Axed After Chiefs Thriller: Siwelele Fire Seema After Slow Start
Siwelele have confirmed that Lehlohonolo Seema has been sacked following the team’s poor start to the season.
Seema’s last match in charge was a spirited 3-2 defeat to Kaizer Chiefs in the Betway Premiership at Dobsonville Stadium on Sunday.
Assistant coach Willem Jackson has also been shown the door. DStv Diski Challenge coach Geoffrey Mosoetsa will step in as interim manager while the club searches for a permanent replacement, as confirmed by Siwelele chairman Calvin Le John.
Mosoetsa steps up after guiding Siwelele’s DStv Diski Challenge (DDC) reserve side to a third position last season.
Siwelele are currently on a five-match winless streak to start the Betway Premiership campaign (0 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses).
“I always control the controllables, and it’s going to be one of those things that you have to accept as a coach,” he said after the Chiefs loss.
“As a coach, you work hard. You continue to work hard, and I remain professional. I cannot speculate about what the chairman will do.
“Last season, he supported me. We went two months before we won. Maybe that was because we did not have the pre-season with the players while we were still trying to understand each other.
“Now we have had 25 players leave, and the new ones are coming in. We have so many players who are playing in the PSL for the first time, so there are still a lot of things that we are working on.
“At least we have a reference point. I know that it’s not easy. It’s not nice, but we have walked this path before, and it proves that we can do it. With time, and especially after the second half that we had, you can see that this team is coachable, and there are a lot of things that we can do.
“Whether I’ll be given time or not, I cannot say. But at the moment, I’m still looking forward to Wednesday’s game and the Golden Arrows game. It’s a matter of time before we get the win.”
Seema also acknowledged the frustration among the Siwelele supporters, who are still waiting to celebrate their first league victory of the campaign.
“I think we finished this game strongly, and we can only look forward to the next game. We keep pushing, and I know that we haven’t won,” he added.
“Our supporters are not happy, and we will continue to work hard. I don’t think we embarrassed them that much.
“Yes, we embarrassed them; they are disappointed that we have not won, but we lost fighting. And, like I said, individual errors are something you don’t plan for. But we’ll support the boy, the goalkeeper, Samukelo Xulu.
“We’ll continue, and you cannot go back and look at who is available and who is not. But I can definitely tell you that the goalkeeper who was injured is not available on Wednesday, with only 48 hours between the games.
“So it’s one of those situations where we say we have to pick up the top-three boy, and then we pick him up. We lose as a team, and we’ll see.”
Seema led the club to safety last season, finishing 10th in the standings, but leaves with the team floundering in 14th place with just two points from five matches.
The former Golden Arrows coach is the second manager to lose his job in the PSL this season after Cedric Kaze at Sekhukhune United.
Extra reporting by Banele Hlakanyana
