Baroka boss Khurishi Mphahlele has admitted he was wrong to think Kgoloko Thobejane would stabilise the team after his exploits in the Diski Challenge.
Thobejane was demoted to the Diski Challenge, with his assistant Vincent Kobola set to take over in the remaining four fixtures.
The Limpopo side is perched at the basement of the PSL table and desperately needs to win all remaining games to survive the chop.
On Sunday, they bottled a 2-0 lead against fellow relegation candidates Swallows, eventually losing 3-2. Mphahlele said that the disappointing result was why Thobejane was demoted to the Diski Challenge.
Thobejane has been in charge for the last five months after replacing Thoka Matsimela, who started with the team this term before being demoted to the reserve side.
“I was not happy about the result; we were not looking at that type of outcome after leading two-nil. We were disappointed at losing against the team directly competing with us,” Mphahlele told MSW.
The club’s supremo said he takes the blame for wrongly putting Thobejane in charge of the senior team based on his performances in the junior ranks.
“He was doing well in the Diski Challenge, that’s why I thought he would do well in the DStv Premiership, but I was wrong. The coach is not fired but demoted to Diski Challenge. He is still employed by us,” he said.
Mphahlele is under no illusion that the final four games would be easy. However, he said they would do everything to avoid relegation. Bakgaga have only managed to collect 18 points from 26 outings.
“It’s going to be tough; we can’t give up now. We still got four games to fight for our lives; we will give it all and see where we will be at the end of the season.”
Kobola has exactly a week to prepare the team for their league tie against Golden Arrows on May 4. Three days later, he guides them away at Chippa United before hosting SuperSport United in the season’s penultimate match. They wrap up their campaign with a visit to Maritzburg United.
Mphahlele said if the former Cape Town City captain, Kobola, helps the team avoid the chop, they would give him the job permanently.
“If the coach [Vincent Kobola] survives the relegation, we will give him a chance and our support as we did to other coaches. We will give him the job permanently. If we get relegated, it will be a disaster to the fans, sponsors, and the province’s municipal,” Mphahlele concluded.
