Moorosi Tsiane
MATLAMA has fired head coach Charles Manda following a string of poor performances.
Although he lost just two back to back matches against LDF and Linare in the last two weeks, his side has been performing dismally in recent matches.
Manda was appointed Matlama head coach in July 2019 and led the side for 25 league matches. He won 15, drew seven and lost four.
Mandla’s first assignment was against Angolan outfit Pedro de Luanda in the CAF Champions’ League preliminary stage where they lost by an aggregate score of 4-0 (losing 2-0 in each match).
He also won the 2019 Independence Cup beating LCS 1-0 a few months after his appointment.
However, the Matlama management still felt that Manda was not doing enough following his failure to defend the league title losing it to Bantu last season. The side ended the season in second trailing Bantu by a staggering 18 points.
Following their last Sunday loss which saw them dropping from second to fifth behind runaway leaders, Bantu by six points, the management terminated his contract.
Matlama team manager Limpho Tshepe confirmed to this publication this week that they had parted ways with Manda. They have temporarily appointed Sello Seholoholo and Mokoena Mohale to work with Molebatsi Mothobi as the three coaches.
Tshepe said they were unhappy with Manda’s performance.
“When we brought him here, we had high expectations but unfortunately, he has been doing the opposite after taking over a league-winning and turned it into just an ordinary team,” Tshepe said.
“We have been on a downward spiral. We were spending too much money on him but we were not getting the value, so we couldn’t take it anymore. A decision had to be made and it was only fair that we parted ways.
“We had hoped for better results than this but it was clear that he was struggling so we had to relieve him. Even the matches we were winning; were still unconvincing.”
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Manda was pocketing between M10 000 and M12 000 monthly. Tshepe could not be drawn into discussing the figure.
He said the squad had become demotivated and meetings with the coach proved that he was not fully committed to the team.
“The team was demotivated. We had been winning by luck but at one point, even that luck runs out. We met several times with Manda and we noticed that his commitment to the team was not satisfying. He would arrive late for practice sessions and even on match days.
“We gave him all the support he needed, bought the players that he wanted but he was not playing them. We also have young players we had hoped would develop under him but unfortunately, that was not happening even when that was one of our agreements when he came here. We had to make the decision before it was too late.
“Matlama is a big team and its supporters wants results nothing else. No excuses; just results,” Tshepe said.
Manda yesterday referred all questions to the club.
“I have nothing to say, contact the club if you have any questions,” Manda said.
