PSL club owners are scared to fire coaches

I say this because it seems none wanted to be the first pull the trigger and waited until the man whose reputation when it comes to such matters precedes him, Siviyile “Chippa” Mpengesi went first. Soon after he did it, two more clubs followed suit and a few more are likely to do it too.

It has been an open secret that AmaZulu FC coach – or excuse me, that’s former now – Cavin Johnson has been on borrowed time for at last a month now. If you have been following his story, which this website broke a few weeks ago already, Johnson was give a target of 18 points in 10 games.That is not a heavy target for a team who have the kind of players Usuthu have put together. Three games into the season, it became apparent that Johnson would not make the target and the fans started calling for is head.

But Usuthu management sat on their decision. When Pirates beat Chippa United on Saturday afternoon, by late the same day the rumours that Clinton Larsen has been fired had already started. Johnson drew against Golden Arrows on Sunday and it was then clear he wouldn’t make the 18 points set target.

The team are sitting on two after five games and even if hey were to win the next five, they would end on 17, one short of the target. We expected an immediate termination but they waited. Chippa also waited.

And Black Leopards also had to go to extra lengths a few weeks ago to prove that their coach was still at the club after rumours started circulating that the Frenchman had been fired after just one game. They had to shoot a video of him at training and ask him to confirm the date the video was taken in case people said it was an old one.

We all knew after the poor start that Lionel Soccoia’s term at the Venda based team was over but the management had to clench their fists to avoid being the first to pull the trigger although their fingers must have been itching.

And then the man who seems to die inside every time his team goes five matches with the same coach in charge – Mpengesi – couldn’t hold himself any longer and did the deed on Monday morning. Soon after we caught wind
that AmaZulu were also in meetings where Johnson would possible be released.

And on Tuesday, David Thidiela also let loose and fired Soccoia. I have a feeling the trio might not be the last to get fired this week. I think by Sunday, someone else will have been released.