In his first comments since his abrupt departure, former Chippa United coach Luc Eymael has broken his silence on his short and turbulent tenure with the Betway Premiership side.
As first reported by FARPost, the club confirmed on Wednesday that it had reached a mutual agreement to part ways with the Belgian.
The separation comes at the back of Chippa’s 2-1 defeat by Marumo Gallants in a Betway Premiership match at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium on Sunday.
During his time with Chippa, Eymael guided the club to just one victory, two draws and four defeats. The 66-year-old has since been replaced by Vusumuzi Vilakazi, who returns for his second stint at the club. Vilakazi joins Chippa after parting ways with Motsepe Foundation Championship side Kruger United.
Eymael leaves Chippa at the bottom of the log standings with six points from their 10 games played.
WHAT WENT WRONG FOR LUC EYMAEL AT CHIPPA UNITED?
Eymael has acknowledged that luck was not on his side, and he believes he could have collected more points than he did during his time at the club.
“I think everybody saw that the team was improving a lot. We created good opportunities now and again,” Eymael told FARPost.
“I think the brand of soccer was really better. Unfortunately, we have not been very lucky, and there were always small mistakes to kill us, like against Polokwane City FC and against Marumo Gallants.
“I should have expected more games to try to rectify everything because five or six games are very difficult. I am not a magician, but I am a very professional coach and a hard worker,” he explained.
BELGIAN COACH ACCEPTS DECISION MADE BY BETWAY PREMIERSHIP SIDE
While accepting Chippa’s chairman Siviwe Mpengesi’s decision that more time couldn’t be afforded, the journeyman coach was quick to thank the club’s fans, the players for their effort. He also showed gratitude towards the club’s chairman for giving him the chance to return to South African football.
“At the end of the day, it’s life. It’s the decision of the boss and the committee, and I have to respect that,” added.
“But I want to thank the fans of Chippa for the support they gave us. I also want to thank the players for the efforts that they made in the training session and in games.
“Like I said. We didn’t collect the points we deserved. I also want to thank the chairman because he brought me back to South Africa, a country that I like a lot and I appreciate a lot.”
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