South African club Kaizer Chiefs sacked Coach Ernst Middendorp after the club failed to win the Absa Premiership title and narrowly lost out to defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
A statement by the club on Wednesday said the decision took immediate effect following reviews conducted by the club’s chairman Kaizer Motaung and the club’s management.
The club also announced that it had arrived at an agreement for an early termination of the contract of assistant coach Shaun Bartlett.
Despite having topped the league for most of the season and appearing to be in a strong position to win it during the latter stages of the season, Kaizer Chiefs suffered a dip in form after the league’s resumption and missed out on winning a fifth title on the final day of the season.
A draw against Baroka coupled with Sundowns’ 3-0 win meant Sundowns pipped Chiefs to the title by just two points as both clubs went into the final game level on points but with Chiefs having a superior goal difference.
The German joined Chiefs in December 2018 on a two-and-a-half year contract and led them to a ninth-place finish and the Nedbank Cup final in his first season in charge.
Motaung said some of the factors taken into account before arriving at the decision included the team’s style of play and its performances and results.
“We truly believed and hoped that our 50th anniversary year would be better, and it indeed looked promising. The decision taken is part of a strategy to have the team win trophies again and to make our supporters happy because they deserve better,” Motaung said in a statement.
However, Motaung’s statement made it clear that the failure to win the title given their position weighed heavily on their decision.
“After giving the coach and the technical team the ammunition required to compete in the new season there were some improvements, and this was evident during the first seven months of this 2019/2020 season.
“However, when the league restarted post-lockdown, things changed, and we looked a totally different side in our last eight league matches. We witnessed some heart-stopping performances and we were overtaken on the log in the last game of the season, which truly broke our hearts. We have to take responsibility – we can’t wait and allow this situation to continue.”
Motaung said the management knew “the supporters are hurting, and the outcry is too loud to ignore.”
“It is important for our loyal supporters to know that we feel their pain. We are a listening organisation and we respect their right to express their dissatisfaction with the team’s overall performance.”
Motaung said the club will announce the new coach before the team returns for preseason training.
