Strangest, weirdest ways clubs, coaches part ways in the PSL
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma’s dodgy record when it comes to hiring and firing finance ministers for no particular reason is matched only by the Premier Soccer League (PSL) clubs and their coaches. To do this, both club and coach have had to make some of the strangest excuses to part ways.
HERE ARE THE FIVE MOST MEMORABLE EXCUSES: Owen da Gama — Platinum Stars, 2011-12 season
The PSL has seen all sorts of baffling incidents over its 19year history but the “pay-toplay” scandal that rocked Platinum Stars in 2012 is up there with the weirdest.
Da Gama was cleared, of course, but the stink of being accused of soliciting payments from players for them to play didn’t quite leave the dressing room.
He and the club parted ways by “mutual consent” not long after the internal investigation cleared him.
Serame Letsoaka — Lamontville Golden Arrows, 2015-16 season
Letsoaka almost had us with a teary-eyed resignation letter leaked to social media by Arrows. In it he claimed that he was leaving a club where he did so well to be closer to his family — who were based in Johannesburg.
But then the former Bafana Bafana assistant coach took up the vacant Bloemfontein Celtic job days after quitting Arrows.
Letsoaka is now a whopping 167.9km closer to Johannesburg than before. Given that there are seven toll gates on the N3 to Durban, as opposed to three on the N1 to Bloemfontein, Letsoaka could have done it to save a massive R188.50 (each way) in toll fees.
Jean Yves Kerjean — Black Leopards, 2005-06 season
The Frenchman has the dubious honour of lasting one PSL match before being fired by Lidoda Duvha boss David Thidiela. His offence was declaring that six senior players were not PSL material.
The sacking seemed a bit harsh, considering that their only game was against Orlando Pirates away, where Leopards lost to a late Lucky Lekgwathi strike.
Clive Barker — Maritzburg United, 2015-16 season
“He’s too old,” the Team of Choice claimed after sacking Clive “The Dog” Barker following a 1-1 draw at home with Kaizer Chiefs.
Barker was 71 years and 64 days old when United appointed him on September 25 and he had aged a mammoth 67 days by the time he was fired on December 1 — five Absa Premiership matches later.
In that period Barker led them to their only win of this campaign, against University of Pretoria, and drew the game against Chiefs in the 96th minute. Talk about two months being a lifetime in football.
Ernst Middendorp — Free State Stars, 2015-16 season
Having coached Ea Lla Koto to five wins, three draws and two defeats (one of them to red-hot Mamelodi Sundowns) after replacing Belgian Tom Saintfiet, the man formerly known as Middendraws dropped a bombshell by e-mail, quitting the club just a couple of days after leading them to a win over Jomo Cosmos.
The excuse, err, reason, given for the decision was that Stars had a “severe limitation of PSL-qualified players in the team”. The said limited players include Belgian striker Andrea Fileccia, whose six league goals put him second on the top goal-scorer’s list.
The rumour doing the rounds is that Middendorp is keen on returning to coachless Maritzburg United for a third stint. But they, too, should be wary, given that they fired him in 2011 after dramatically asking the team bosses to sack him on live television.
❛ Barker was 71 years and 64 days when he was appointed — he had aged a mammoth 67 days when he was fired