BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
Norman Mapeza is believed to have walked out of South African top-flight side Chippa United following interference by club management in the affairs of the technical team during a period the club endured a bad run of results.
The former FC Platinum coach shocked the football fraternity when he resigned on Monday night, less than two days after steering the team back to winning ways.
His resignation drew fire from football fans across South Africa who regarded him as one of the best coaches. The fans criticised the club management for causing his departure.
The former Warriors and FC Platinum coach had looked on course to rescue the team from the threat of relegation after assuming duty in October last year.
Some reports suggest that even if Mapeza had not jumped ship, he was going to be pushed anyway in the wake of a fallout with his bosses.
Mapeza took over the reins after the club parted ways with Clinton Larsen following a string of dreadful results.
When the former FC Platinum gaffer assumed duty, the club sat winless at the bottom of the table, with their future in the Absa Premiership looking doomed.
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This was after failing to register a single win from their first eight matches of the campaign. But after he arrived, the former Zimbabwe senior national team captain guided them to wins over AmaZulu, Black Leopards, Cape Town City and giants SuperSport United.
This year, they suffered three consecutive league defeats to SuperSport, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns, a run that appeared to have sparked unrest following the reported interference by some executive members.
Mapeza is said to have been unhappy with the alleged meddling by some club bosses and decided it was time to go their separate ways soon after helping the side to a 1-0 victory over AmaZulu at the weekend to break a five-game losing streak (including two cup games) and ease into 11th position on the league table with 25 points from 23 matches. They are now five points off the drop zone. He was expected to be in charge against Bidvest Wits on Saturday.
According to TimesLive, long-serving Chippa assistant coach Mbuyiselo Sambu will take over ahead of the clash against Bidvest Wits.
Mapeza arrived at Chippa last year, replacing Duran Francis, who briefly joined the Eastern Cape side for 13 days following the sacking of Larsen.
He has overseen 20 games in all competitions – eight wins, eight defeats and four draws. Chippa United are notorious for chopping and changing coaches and according to transfermarkt website, Mapeza was Chippa’s 16th coach in five years.
