MASERU – It never rains but pours for Matlama Football Club.
A woeful season has left the defending champions lying seventh on the Vodacom Premier League log, 12 points behind leaders Linare who have 39 points from 20 matches.
The crisis that has dogged Tse Putsoa intensified this week amid revelations that the club will play their remaining seven premier league matches without their coach Motlalepula “Maradona” Majoro who abruptly quit on Sunday.
Majoro becomes the fifth coach to leave the defending champions since the league started last September.
He threw in the towel immediately after Tse Putsoa’s one-all draw against Mphatlalatsane at the Central Prison.
“I am no longer in the office of Matlama since yesterday (Sunday),” Majoro told the Lesotho Times on Monday.
“I met with my bosses yesterday (Sunday) and since this is still new, they are working on it,” he said.
The 42-year-old coach, who took over as head coach in March, was however evasive regarding his resignation.
“Please allow me to protect the team, the players, the committee and the supporters by not revealing the details of my resignation,” Majoro added.
“The things I might say can cause a lot of harm and confusion within the team,” he said. “I will let you know when the time is right for me to talk about my reasons.”
Matlama public relations officer, Lesolle Phalatsi, confirmed that Majoro has indeed left the club.
“It is true,” Phalatsi said on Monday.
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No other league team this season has changed coaches like Matlama.
The season was barely a month old when the popular club dispensed with Ndebele “Tata” Taole who had brought them the championship the previous season.
Mohale Mokoena, Taole’s replacement, lasted only a month before he quit after a string of poor results.
Khotso Mokalanyane took over the hot seat after Mokoena in November but he too could not withstand the pressure and he resigned in March.
And his replacement, Mahao “Bomba” Matete, jumped ship within a month after poor results.
When Majoro, who joined Matlama as assistant coach five months ago, was appointed head coach it was expected that the team would put the past behind it and start climbing up the log.
But that was not to be because he too failed to revive the team’s hopes of retaining the championship until he quit on Sunday evening, barely a month after taking charge.
Yet Matlama’s problems are not limited to the field of play.
Neither are they new: since the 1970s the team has gone from crisis after crisis.
Infighting at board and management levels has stunted the club’s growth.
In recent months key players have absconded training sessions, coaches have been fired or resigned and supporters have petitioned the management with a list of grievances.
All these have combined to shatter the team’s dream of retaining the Vodacom premier league title this season.
Matlama currently have 27 points from 19 games they have played.
The team has six wins, four losses and nine draws.