Owen Dagama takes the reigns at Black Leopards

LIMPOPO – Black Leopards appointed the well-travelled coach, Owen ‘Thifhuriwi’ Dagama as the new coach to serve the team from the relegation zone, on February 9.

Leopards coach, Rodwell Dhlakama resigned last week after the team’s poor performance and Leopards are now in the last spot of the Motsepe Foundation Championship league.

Dagama will be assisted by Morgan Shivambu who was the assistant coach for many of the team’s former coaches.

His first match will face Polokwane City, who are in top form, on Sunday at the Malamulele Stadium.

The 61-year-old mentor Dagama said his team will escape relegation.

In an interview with him shortly after the official announcement to players, Dagama mentioned that a lot of young talent resided in the Leopards’ camp.

He said that Black Leopards were by far the better side regarding ball possession and displaying entertaining football. He added that displaying entertaining football without securing a positive result is not good enough for the fans. Supporters want a positive result, and the rest is a bonus, he said.

Asked whether he could possibly pull the team out of the relegation quagmire with the current squad, Dagama said his mandate was to save the team from relegation. According to him, the mandate is achievable taking into account a number of things.

He said speculation about the team to be relegated at the end of the season was premature as the team had played to remain with many matches.

Dagama’s coaching history speaks volumes.

Some of the teams he had guided to success over the past years include Dynamos FC, Supersport, Highlandspark, Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and TS Galaxy.

The team also roped in the former Safa Vhembe secretary, Mulimisi Muneri who worked closely with Dagama when he was still Dynamos coach.