JOHANNESBURG - With next Thursday set as the date when Bloemfontein Celtic will know whether they can finally register new coach Luc Eymael as an employee, they are still in the dark with regards to knowing the reasons why Polokwane City - his former bosses - would not accept the Belgian’s resignation earlier this month.
Eymael called it quits two weeks ago, leaving the Limpopo outfit in limbo and agreeing to a two-and-half year contract at Celtic barely 24-hours after alerting City, in writing, that he no longer wished to continue as coach.
Chairman Johnny Mogaladi is yet to break his silence on the matter, but Celtic chief executive, Khumbulani Konco,
revealed that it was Mogaladi who blocked the club from
installing Eymael as coach with immediate effect, by taking the matter to the PSL’s Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC).
The coach watched his new charges from the stands when they held league leaders Cape Town City to a goalless draw at the Dr Molemela Stadium five days ago.
“I don’t know why Polokwane City are refusing to
accept that coach Luc wanted to move on, you will have to ask Johnny for more details,” Konco said on Wednesday.
“We have a hearing on March 30 and we will know then what our next step is. We were advised to hold off on registering the coach until the matter goes before the league’s DRC.
“You don’t want a situation where you have the coach on the bench for one game and then suddenly he’s ordered to return to his previous club.”
Eymael, who joined City in July and signed a contract until the end of the current season, not only stated personal reasons for his resignation, but also claimed Mogaladi was interfering with technical team matters.
The coach was incredibly annoyed at the fact that the chairman had suspended talisman and striker Thobani Mncwango recently - without informing him.
The real terms of his employment agreement with City will be revealed at the DRC hearing next week and it is likely that Mogaladi believes Eymael will be ordered back
to Limpopo, hence he has gone as far as asking the league to step in, despite Celtic offering him a new - and possibly
improved - deal.
City thrived under the Belgian mentor and remain in the top eight bracket as a
result of his work while there.
Celtic are hoping the coach can bring some of that magic to their struggling team, who are third from bottom on the 18-team table and have been dragged into the relegation scrap with 10 matches to go.
@superjourno