Nothing short of a miracle of Biblical proportions would have saved yo-yo Black Leopards from straight relegation. It required the unparalleled wisdom of the Biblical King Solomon, the tenacity of a bulldog and the luck of a five-time lottery winner.
Is it by design or default that Leopards found themselves in this unwarrantable situation. The 2019/20 season, Leopards survived by the skin of their teeth as they retained their premiership status through play-offs having finished 15th. It is common cause that a haul of just over 30 points safely puts one out of the danger zone but alas Leopards did not seem to learn from past mistakes and found themselves exposed like a naked village headman on top of a hill.
In an anti-clockwise recollection of events, Morgan Shivambu who was there to guide the team back to the premiership during last season’s play-offs, is in charge of the team after Lehlohonolo Seema unceremoniously left the club, something that the management of the club tried to conceal as though it is a Coca-Cola recipe. Kostadin Papic who was roped in as Technical Director (TD), a term club bosses use to confuse the public, unaware the public is the more insolent – achieved zilch. For a club that has Yethembe as its sponsor, I question the logic, if any, to just pay a TD when money could have bought players to reinforce their squad. For the journeyman that Papic is, there is no worth that he added since coming on board. The nomadic Dylan Kerr who must be having the last laugh after guiding Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila to Nedbank Cup glory was also shown the boot by the trigger-itchy Leopards management. And Kerr had come to take over from the highly acclaimed but under achieving Belgian Patrick Aussems who was shown the Punda Maria highway after three matches in charge – all losses. Wonder where they met and even considered this coach cum claimer.
So if three coaches in one season is not distress enough to cause confusion among players then surely Leopards have no business playing with football fans’ emotions. Simply put, Leopards needs to clear all dead wood in the system, including family members masquerading as directors. In David Thidiela I believe. The African proverb – The sun does not forget a village just because it is too small – is apropos for this consequence.
