And so the coach merry-go-round continues
This week saw three coaches resign from their jobs as pressure mounted for results which were not forthcoming. It started on Sunday when the well-travelled Muhsin Ertugral announced that he was leaving National First Division side Ajax Cape Town after just 10 games as he felt the team needed someone else to help them back to the Absa Premiership – a mission he had sworn to complete earlier on.
Then on Monday it was Joel Masutha who left Black Leopards, a team he had almost miraculously rescued from relegation in the NFD and guided to the top flight in a matter of a few months. He was set to meet the club’s management to discuss the way forward as results were not going the way they would have wished in the first 10 games. He instead opted to tender his resignation and make space for someone who might do a better job.
Masutha’s position was under threat from the onset as the team hired a technical director in July – and we all know what that means in local football. Once a position that was previously deemed unnecessary suddenly becomes a priority for the management to fill and they get a more experienced coach, then the incumbent’s days are numbered.
I heard Masutha was given a target of getting at least four points in their last two games – both away to Kaizer Chiefs and Cape Town City. Both these teams have experienced players and enjoyed better form than Masutha’s Lidoda Duvha. He managed to get a point at Chiefs but lost to City.
Sibongiseni Gumbi
He then did the honourable things and fell on his word before he could be axed. I guess he spared himself the humiliation that comes with getting fired at the Thohoyandou-based side where there have been allegations that coaches are sometimes manhandled and forcefully removed from the club’s premises when they have been fired.
Also on Monday, Luc Eymael left his job at Free State Stars, barely five months after guiding the side to their first cup glory in 24 years. Eymael guided an unfancied Ea Lla Koto to the Nedbank Cup last season – in May to be precise.
But I could not help but feel the Nedbank Cup win was bittersweet for the club’s management. Attending their media events prior to their semifinals win over Kaizer Chiefs and final win over Maritzburg United I got a sense that there was a bit of tension between Eymael and his management.
Relations were further strained when rumours emerged that Eymael was wanted by Chiefs and SuperSport United, an issue the coach was vocal about, even giving the suitors an ultimatum to say if they want him they should make their offers quickly so he can decide before going home for the holidays.
Inasmuch as he felt he was being honest and transparent, it must have hurt for Stars officials to know their coach had one eye on another team. His resignation came after he had speculated a few weeks ago that he would be fired soon.
Now we wait to see who these three clubs hire. Will it be new coaches, people we have not seen before? I certainly hope so. But it is more likely that the rotation of coaches that has been going on for the past few years will continue.
There are coaches who have coached almost every team in the Absa Premiership. But I hope they bring us new faces, but let it be properly qualified and experienced coaches – not, as the late Nigerian coach Stephene Keshi would say, the carpenters from Europe. We need people who will add value to our football.