You lose, you get fired: you win, you still get fired

PREMIER Soccer League (PSL) coaches have no time to hold grudges.

In a job as unpredictable as theirs, there is no room for resentment — you might just end up where it all began.

Three coaches who are no strangers to reunions opened up about their decision to kiss and make up with their former employers. While their reasons varied, Cavin Johnson, Clinton Larsen and Roger Sikhakhane all agreed that hard feelings have no place in their often thankless job.

Sikhakhane, much to public amusement following their acrimonious parting in January, returned to Chippa United for a fourth spell when he signed a one-year contract last month. Johnson and Larsen went back to Platinum Stars and Bloemfontein Celtic respectively, not long after they had cut ties with those clubs in search of “new challenges” at rival PSL clubs.

“I didn’t just wake up and decide to take the job when Chippa offered it back to me,” said 39-year-old Sikhakhane, who accused the club of racism after he was replaced by journeyman Ernst Middendorp at the beginning of the year.

“We had a lengthy discussion about what happened then and why. He [club owner Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi] admitted to making mistakes and said there was a misunderstanding.

“In this job you can’t hold anything against anyone. I know that Chippa was [negatively] influenced but sometimes you have to leave these things alone and move on. He kept paying me my salary even though he had fired me. He is very generous.” TOUGH: Roger Sikhakhane has reunited with Chippa for the fourth time as head coach

I didn’t just wake up and take the job when Chippa offered it back

Johnson, 56, and Larsen, 44, don’t quite have a story as complex as that of their counterpart. For them, familiar surroundings did the trick. The former was given the boot at SuperSport United after 14 months of no success that almost saw the club losing out on a top eight position for the first time in 13 years.

Was rejoining Dikwena a case of him being a desperate coach? “Not at all,” said Johnson.

“I could have taken up the job at Celtic, AmaZulu or Moroka Swallows, but going back to Platinum Stars was easier than going to a place where you don’t know anybody or don’t know the culture of the club.

“Finances will always play a role, but you cannot live for long without any money coming in. And you cannot depend on one salary within a household because you have children to put through school. But it wasn’t a do-or-die situation for me.”

Larsen said he felt he had unfinished business at Celtic, a club he abandoned in 2013 to pursue a fresh challenge with Maritzburg United.

However, the former Bafana Bafana star midfielder was back in the Free State a year later.

“I felt I had put in a lot of work and built a strong foundation in the four years I had spent there previously,” he said.