Chippa United’s recently-fired coach, Roger Sikhakhane, is fuming after the axe officially fell on him yesterday after weeks of speculation about his future.
In his place comes German-born Ernst Middendorp, who not long ago was shown the door at Bloemfontein Celtic after a string of disastrous results.
Middendorp has been rewarded with a six-month long contract at the PE outfit, with an option to renew at the end of the season, a highly unlikely occurrence if the club’s chopping and changing of coaches is anything to go by.
The 56-year-old German becomes the third coach for Chippa this season, with Kosta Papic having left early on in the season before the team showed great form under Sikhakhane.
Middendorp left Celtic languishing in the bottom half of the log table when he was booted out early last December.
Sikhakhane, on the other hand, had the Port Elizabeth outfit in the top eight before the festive break.
Sikhakhane’s record since he was appointed interim coach in September reads: five wins, four losses and three draws.
The 39-year-old Sikhakhane believes there are sinister forces behind his sacking but maintained he would not release a full statement until Thursday.
When asked about the reasons given to cut ties with him, Sikhakhane took a swipe at Chilli Boys club management without mentioning any names: “Bathi mina bengihluleka ukucontroller amaplayers ... those are lies.
“They go on to say senior players did not respect me, amanga futhi and you can call any of them and ask, they will tell you there is no such.”
A fuming Sikhakhane continued: “They should not make excuses because they are the ones who did not do things right. Abakhokhi amaplayers . Even when the team was doing well, they did not do things right and they are now shifting the blame.”
Sikhakhane has been fired and re-appointed at Chippa several times before.
Despite all this, whenever given an opportunity, he has reiterated his loyalty to club boss Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi but yesterday during the interview with the Dispatch, this was not the case.
In a press statement sent out yesterday, the club said: “Middendorp will start his new job as Chippa United coach on Monday, 5 January 2015 where he will be introduced to the players.
“Middendorp will have almost a month to instill his own style at Chippa United.”
In the statement, chairman Mpengesi thanked Sikhakhane “for all the hard work he has contributed to the success of the club,” but the club provided no reason as to why it came to the conclusion to sack Sikhakhane.
Mpengesi could not be reached on his phone by print deadline while Chippa CEO Peter Koutroulis, who is said to be the mastermind behind Sikhakhane’s downfall, referred the Dispatch to the aforementioned press release.
Sikhakhane bitter as head coach axe falls
In his place comes German-born Ernst Middendorp, who not long ago was shown the door at Bloemfontein Celtic after a string of disastrous results.
Middendorp has been rewarded with a six-month long contract at the PE outfit, with an option to renew at the end of the season, a highly unlikely occurrence if the club’s chopping and changing of coaches is anything to go by.
The 56-year-old German becomes the third coach for Chippa this season, with Kosta Papic having left early on in the season before the team showed great form under Sikhakhane.
Middendorp left Celtic languishing in the bottom half of the log table when he was booted out early last December.
Sikhakhane, on the other hand, had the Port Elizabeth outfit in the top eight before the festive break.
Sikhakhane’s record since he was appointed interim coach in September reads: five wins, four losses and three draws.
The 39-year-old Sikhakhane believes there are sinister forces behind his sacking but maintained he would not release a full statement until Thursday.
When asked about the reasons given to cut ties with him, Sikhakhane took a swipe at Chilli Boys club management without mentioning any names: “Bathi mina bengihluleka ukucontroller amaplayers ... those are lies.
“They go on to say senior players did not respect me, amanga futhi and you can call any of them and ask, they will tell you there is no such.”
A fuming Sikhakhane continued: “They should not make excuses because they are the ones who did not do things right. Abakhokhi amaplayers . Even when the team was doing well, they did not do things right and they are now shifting the blame.”
Sikhakhane has been fired and re-appointed at Chippa several times before.
Despite all this, whenever given an opportunity, he has reiterated his loyalty to club boss Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi but yesterday during the interview with the Dispatch, this was not the case.
In a press statement sent out yesterday, the club said: “Middendorp will start his new job as Chippa United coach on Monday, 5 January 2015 where he will be introduced to the players.
“Middendorp will have almost a month to instill his own style at Chippa United.”
In the statement, chairman Mpengesi thanked Sikhakhane “for all the hard work he has contributed to the success of the club,” but the club provided no reason as to why it came to the conclusion to sack Sikhakhane.
Mpengesi could not be reached on his phone by print deadline while Chippa CEO Peter Koutroulis, who is said to be the mastermind behind Sikhakhane’s downfall, referred the Dispatch to the aforementioned press release.
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