The season of goodwill and giving may be firmly upon us, but Mpumalanga Black Aces were in no festive mood as they gave two of their key employees an unwanted Christmas present by sending them packing yesterday.
First to go was head coach Neil Tovey, who arrived amid much expectation in October, but has won only a single Absa Premiership match since. Tovey had signed a short-term contract with Aces, having replaced Aki Agiomamidis, who was fired after just three matches in charge back in September.
AmaZayoni also announced they had terminated the contract of Lehlohonolo Seema, the former Orlando Pirates captain, who was signed at the beginning of the season, but failed to make an official debut for the club because of a persistent ligament injury.
Aces praised Seema’s professionalism, but the decision to let him go may throw the Lesotho international’s career into doubt. At 30, Seema could struggle to find suitors in the upcoming transfer-window period next month. In any case, according to Aces, he’s injured and may take time to heal.
“It is a real pity we have to let him go as he is a player we currently need desperately. However, it is too uncertain when he will regain full fitness and so we couldn’t take a risk,” Aces chief executive Mark Grune was quoted as saying on the club’s website.
While Seema’s departure came as a shock, Tovey’s sacking will not have surprised too many people given Aces’ poor form of late.
Former Bafana Bafana captain Tovey arrived at the Mpumalanga club in October, beginning his tenure positively, garnering four points from their first two matches, including a shock win away at Pirates on October 20. Aces followed that up with another manful away victory over Moroka Swallows in the Telkom Knockout.
But things fell apart from there on, as Aces collected just a single point from their last seven matches. They have lost five matches in a row and remain certain candidates for automatic relegation, provided that bottom club Swallows find their form in the new year as expected.
Tovey may have been a dependable leader at the back during his playing days but he leaves Aces with the worst defensive record in the land – they have let in 25 goals from 12 games. Aces CEO Grune explained players had failed to respond to Tovey’s methods of late, necessitating an “amicable” parting of ways.
“(Tovey) has done great things for the sport as a player and we all admire him for that. As a coach he brings his own style of South African play and the players initially responded well. It has really been unfortunate that the results were not forthcoming. The players must shoulder a big part of that responsibility too, but it was clear at this present time that the fit was just not there,” Grune wrote.
Aces open the new year with a relegation six-pointer away to Maritzburg United on January 7.