Roger de Sa is apparently the Ajax Cape Town coach-in-waiting following his resignation at Orlando Pirates on Friday.
Ajax, who are without a head coach since Muhsin Ertugral quit a fortnight ago, have confirmed De Sa is on the list of coaches in line for the vacant position, but PRO Thabiso “Shooz” Mekuto says the club are not in a hurry to appoint a new coach.
Ian Taylor has been caretaker coach at Ajax since Ertugral left, but the Urban Warriors may move swiftly to tie De Sa down to a contract.
“His name is on the list, but we have to go through the proper procedure. If we have local coaches on the list, we must convince the Ajax Amsterdam board. We have a list of coaches and we will cut the names down. We are not in a hurry to announce a new coach,” Mekuto said yesterday.
Ajax have been linked with former Mamelodi Sundowns coaches Antonio Habas Lopez and Johan Neeskens, but De Sa’s decision to leave Pirates has apparently enticed the Urban Warriors head honchos who have had quite an eventful season.
Ajax were caught off-guard when Ertugral quit. They were making good progress and they may now look for stability with the appointment of a new coach who could guide them to a top-eight finish, something they failed to do last season.
De Sa may not have won silverware with Pirates, but his CAF Champions League exploits last year would have caught the eye of a few club bosses.
Even Egyptian giants Zamalek were interested in the former Bidvest Wits coach. Pirates beat Zamalek 4-1 in the group stages clash at home on their way to reaching the final against Al Ahly.
Zamalek, however, have since hired former Egyptian international “bad boy” Ahmed “Mido” Hossam as their coach.
De Sa had a tough time at Pirates, joining the club after their back-to-back treble-winning campaigns.
He did not win a trophy after he replaced Augusto Palacios early in the campaign last term, but the club’s good run in the Champions League kept him in the good books of some of the club’s fans who were not entirely convinced by his appointment.
But three cup finals defeats – the MTN8, Telkom Knockout and Champions League final put him under loads of pressure, although he seemed convinced he had the backing of management.
However, just one victory in three matches this year in the league again put De Sa in the spotlight for the wrong reasons and on Friday, Buccaneers chairman Irvin Khoza announced via a press statement that the coach had resigned.
De Sa would welcome a fresh start and would want to redeem himself if he were to take up the job in Cape Town.
The last time he was in the Western Cape, between 2005 and 2007 as coach of Santos, the coach struggled and the club were almost relegated.
Meanwhile, Ertugral is favourite to replace De Sa as coach at Pirates. Former Bafana Bafana player Eric Tinkler is now the caretaker coach as the Buccaneers look for a replacement.