New Maritzburg United coach Roger de Sa says his openness and understanding with chairman Farook Kadodia was the key reason for him joining the “Team of Choice” ed after he was unveiled as new coach today. The 52-year-old signed a 30-month contract with United and replaces Ernst Middendorp after he quit the club in November. The club has been coping well in the interim under caretaker coaches Fadlu and Mahier Davids, but there was no secret of their desire to bring the new man to Pietermaritzburg. De Sa admitted it was one of his favoured destinations, although he conceded that a huge challenge lay ahead. De Sa has also been constantly linked with the Bafana Bafana head coach post, even prior to Shakes Mashaba’s sacking last month. But he insisted that he had never even heard from the South African Football Association (Safa) in the past few months and was always planning a break after leaving Ikamva. Kadodia echoed similar sentiments, saying the desire for the club was to ultimately end in the top eight. He felt that the way they had progressed along this season meant all signs were there to meet their ambitions, although he stopped short of speaking of mandates on coach De Sa.