Ambitious Mammila eyes continental football for Chippa

The Chilli Boyz, who won their second match in seven games last week with a 2-1 come-from-behind against Richards Bay FC, host SuperSport United in the DStv Premiership tonight in Gqeberha. Mammila believes the moment has come to dream big. 

"That's the target and we dream big. Leave this thing of fighting for the top eight. No, there's the top four, there's the CAF Confederation Cup, and there's the Champions League, if you wanna grow as a team. The brand of the team will go miles away if you play those kinds of competitions," said Mammila. 

Chippa United has only finished in the top eight once, in Dan Malesela's first season in 2015/2016, when they finished in the top six and advanced to the MTN8 semi-finals the following season. Mammila believes a top-eight finish is possible this season. 

"Personally I tasted top eight four or five months ago [as Moroka Swallows Technical Advisor], so I know how it tastes. The plan is to remain in the top eight bracket from match number 10 up until match 30. And our target is if we can get 54 points, we'll be fine." 

Despite being seventh on the table with nine points from as many matches, The administrator-turned-coach turned coach, claims the Eastern Cape side is a top-five team in the Premier Division. 

"Chippa has been in football for so many years consecutively. I always tell people Chippa is number five when it comes to years consecutively in PSL. Richards Bay has just come in, Cape Town City yesterday's team, Golden Arrows were relegated and come back, Polokwane [City] were relegated and they've come back. 

“Many years Chippa is number five, just behind SuperSport [United]. It's [Kaizer] Chiefs, [Orlando] Pirates, [Mamelodi] Sundonws then it's SuperSport then Chippa. And that's where we belong.”