Mamelodi Sundowns Chairman Thlopie Motsepe says the Carling Knockout final defeat to Magesi was tragic but not the deciding factor to Manqoba Mngqithi’s exit.
Mngqithi was sacked on Monday after their return from Morocco after a 1-1 draw in the CAF Champions League against ASFAR which made it back-to-back draws to open their 2024/25 group stage campaign.
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While they are seated at the summit of the league, they stumbled out of the MTN8 semi-finals to Stellenbosch, lost to Polokwane City in the league, embarrassed in a fairytale win by Clinton Larsen’s side and had a couple of unconvincing displays.
“There are always considerations in serious decisions like changing the coaching staff at the club, but it certainly wasn’t the Magesi game that made the decision,” Motsepe said.
“The Magesi game was magic for most, but tragic for us right – it was definitely something for us when you look back on… for the football club, someone came to me at the end of the game and said this is why football is called the beautiful game.
“It’s tough to look at it when you are on the receiving end of a Cinderella story like that, but what I do understand and what I know, is that performance probably inspired many amateur footballers, lower leagues, and coaches to say that it’s possible.
“That’s the magic of cup football but we started the season having gave the coaching team the opportunity to take the reigns and lead the club in the direction they saw fit and unfortunately we started with a stumble, knocked out the MTN8.
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“Then we stumbled with Polokwane and there was a series of games where we never really saw the consistency we’d hoped for, the club was heading in the direction we knew the club should be. So the decision was made by compounding many factors.
“And then we had to make the decisions and make it very quickly, so we could put the coach and the rest of his team to see the rest of the year out through properly.”
Sundowns now turn their attention to Raja Athletic Cub this Sunday, which will be new head coach Miguel Cardoso’s first game in charge.
