A shock decision from Mthatha Bucks Football Club saw them fire coach Velile Dyaloyi midway through the 2016-17 National First Division campaign.
Dyaloyi joined Mthatha Bucks in November 2015 with the team struggling near the bottom of the table and managed to help them avoid relegation on the last day of the 2015-16 season after they went unbeaten over their last four games, drawing three and winning one.
Despite Bucks releasing a statement claiming that the coach and club had parted by mutual consent, Daily Dispatch has since established that the decision had come out of the blue.
Dyaloyi had arrived at training to prepare for the resumption of the league when he was called into the office and given the boot.
“When I arrived back at work I was told to go to the office and when I got there I was told my services were no longer required,” said Dyaloyi.
“So it came as a bit of a shock to me.”
But Bucks insisted in a press statement released yesterday that the parting of the ways was in the best interests and progress of the team.
“This follows a series of meetings looking at where the club wants to be and where it is at the moment,” the statement said.
“We want to thank the coach for the sterling job he has done since his appointment in November 2015 to put the club where it is today.
“We wish him well in his future endeavours.”
Dyaloyi, however, said that “mutual consent is when things have been sorted out”, which he claimed they had not.
This season has seen Bucks in decent form and they currently sit seventh on the 16-team table, 10 points ahead of the bottom two sides and just four points off second-placed Royal Eagles at the halfway point.
Bucks are also currently on a nine-game unbeaten run stretching back to October 2016, with them having drawn seven and won two of those games.
“If we could have won our last game we would have been third on the log. That shows how tight the league is,” said Dyaloyi.
“If we wanted to finish top of the league it is possible. It was going to be a challenge but that was what we were working towards.”
The search for a new coach will now begin and Bucks will want to make a quick appointment so that the new coach can establish himself in the team as soon as possible ahead of the second half of the season which gets underway next month.
“We will now begin our search for the new coach and we hope to make an announcement soon in order to continue with our preparation for the second round of the season which we will kick off against Jomo Cosmos at home on February 11 2017,” stated the press release.
Mthatha Bucks’ last nine matches:
December 17 2016 – University of Pretoria 2-2 Mthatha Bucks
December 10 2016 – Mthatha Bucks 1-1 FC Cape Town
December 3 2016 – Mthatha Bucks 3-1 Milano United FC
November 25 2016 – Engen Santos FC 0-0 Mthatha Bucks
November 19 2016 – Mthatha Bucks 1-1 Royal Eagles
November 5 2016 – Magesi FC 1-1 Mthatha Bucks
October 29 2016 – Mthatha Bucks 2-2 Thanda Royal Zulu
October 26 2016 – Real Kings FC 2-2 Mthatha Bucks
October 22 2016 – Mthatha Bucks 2-1 Mbombela United
Shock at Bucks coach’s firing
Dyaloyi joined Mthatha Bucks in November 2015 with the team struggling near the bottom of the table and managed to help them avoid relegation on the last day of the 2015-16 season after they went unbeaten over their last four games, drawing three and winning one.
Despite Bucks releasing a statement claiming that the coach and club had parted by mutual consent, Daily Dispatch has since established that the decision had come out of the blue.
Dyaloyi had arrived at training to prepare for the resumption of the league when he was called into the office and given the boot.
“When I arrived back at work I was told to go to the office and when I got there I was told my services were no longer required,” said Dyaloyi.
“So it came as a bit of a shock to me.”
But Bucks insisted in a press statement released yesterday that the parting of the ways was in the best interests and progress of the team.
“This follows a series of meetings looking at where the club wants to be and where it is at the moment,” the statement said.
“We want to thank the coach for the sterling job he has done since his appointment in November 2015 to put the club where it is today.
“We wish him well in his future endeavours.”
Dyaloyi, however, said that “mutual consent is when things have been sorted out”, which he claimed they had not.
This season has seen Bucks in decent form and they currently sit seventh on the 16-team table, 10 points ahead of the bottom two sides and just four points off second-placed Royal Eagles at the halfway point.
Bucks are also currently on a nine-game unbeaten run stretching back to October 2016, with them having drawn seven and won two of those games.
“If we could have won our last game we would have been third on the log. That shows how tight the league is,” said Dyaloyi.
“If we wanted to finish top of the league it is possible. It was going to be a challenge but that was what we were working towards.”
The search for a new coach will now begin and Bucks will want to make a quick appointment so that the new coach can establish himself in the team as soon as possible ahead of the second half of the season which gets underway next month.
“We will now begin our search for the new coach and we hope to make an announcement soon in order to continue with our preparation for the second round of the season which we will kick off against Jomo Cosmos at home on February 11 2017,” stated the press release.
Mthatha Bucks’ last nine matches:
December 17 2016 – University of Pretoria 2-2 Mthatha Bucks
December 10 2016 – Mthatha Bucks 1-1 FC Cape Town
December 3 2016 – Mthatha Bucks 3-1 Milano United FC
November 25 2016 – Engen Santos FC 0-0 Mthatha Bucks
November 19 2016 – Mthatha Bucks 1-1 Royal Eagles
November 5 2016 – Magesi FC 1-1 Mthatha Bucks
October 29 2016 – Mthatha Bucks 2-2 Thanda Royal Zulu
October 26 2016 – Real Kings FC 2-2 Mthatha Bucks
October 22 2016 – Mthatha Bucks 2-1 Mbombela United
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