Leemisa Thuseho
VODACOM Premier League side, Lifofane coach, Kabelo Malapane, resigned during the week because he was not happy with the team’s decision to bring in another coach to work with him, the Sunday Express has learnt.
The Butha-Buthe based club recently reinforced its coaching department by roping in former Machokha coach, Katiso Mojakhomo. However, this did not sit down well with Malapane who then decided to step down.
In an interview with Sunday Express, Lifofane communication and marketing manager, Teboho Ntoane, said Mojakhomo was brought into the team to help Malapane as co-coach and bring stability.
Ntoane said the team’s dressing room was getting out of control as players and Malapane were no longer working harmoniously.
The players were sometimes refusing to train on some days, he said.
“The team took a decision to bring in another coach after Malapane told management that he was facing some challenges as the players were no longer cooperative and refusing to attend training sessions during the week.
“Thus, the team resolved to bring in another coach to work with Malapane in an effort to neutralise the situation. However, Malapane was not happy with the decision and he opted to leave.”
According to Ntoane, Mojakhomo would now lead the team for the remainder of the season.
On his part, Malapane also confirmed that he was no longer with Lifofane.
He said he went back to his home in South Africa on Friday.
Malapane also admitted that his decision to resign was triggered by the management’s decision to bring someone into the same position.
“They brought someone saying we are going to work in the same position with equal authority, so I decided to resign. I couldn’t stand that,” he told the Sunday Express.
“However, there are no hard feelings between me and the team. I also think it is time to be back close to my family. It has been not easy to spend some time with them while working in Lesotho.”
Malapane said he was ready to return to Lesotho if he got another offer.
“Lesotho is my second home and I will definitely return if I get an offer to coach here,” he said.
Malapane arrived at Lifofane in the second half of last season and helped the team finish 11th on the log standings.
He leaves them still in the same position this season with seven games to go.
Malapane said he wanted to do more for the team but he was forced to use young and inexperienced players because the club could not afford senior players due to financial constraints.
Even those rookies were not even paid well and this made his work difficult.
“I wanted to achieve a lot with the team but I did not have quality players. Those available were not getting paid well and it was not easy to get good results out of players who were not happy and mentally fit,” Malapane said.
