Football
Nick Said, Special to ESPN 7y

Meet the 16 PSL coaches

The 16 South African Premier Soccer League clubs have seemingly settled on their coaches for the 2017/18, with one big exception. KweséESPN brings you a guide to who's-who in the dug-out.

AJAX CAPE TOWN

Coach: Stanley Menzo

The former Dutch international will go into his first full season with the club, having taken over from Roger de Sa a few months into the last campaign.

He steadied the ship at Ikamva, but there were also periods when he seemed unable to drag the side out of mediocrity.

Missing out on the MTN8 on the last day of the season with a home loss to lowly Baroka FC was a big blow.

AMAZULU

Coach: Joey Antipas

AmaZulu have stuck by Zimbabwean Joey Antipas, despite his failure to fulfill his mandate of leading the side to promotion from the National First Division. It proved costly for the team, who instead had to fork out a reported R50-million to buy the top-flight status of Thanda Royal Zulu.

Antipas led the team to fifth place in the First Division last season, winning 14 of their 30 games.

BAROKA FC

Coach: Kgoloko Thobejane

Thobejane started the season as Baroka coach, was then moved sideways when the team spiraled to the foot of the table, only to be brought back just a few games later to ultimately save them from relegation in a co-coaching role with Milton Dlamini. The latter has since left, leaving Thobejane in charge again. He once claimed he did not need "soccer qualifications", but has recently completed his SAFA 'D' Licence.

BIDVEST WITS

Coach: Gavin Hunt

Hunt is basking in the glory of a first-ever league title for Bidvest Wits, and now has the task of retaining that championship. The natural next progression is also to take the team to a continental title and they certainly have the personnel to do that.

BLOEMFONTEIN CELTIC

Coach: Veselin Jelusic

Jelusic takes on his first job in South Africa, and it is a tough one too, tasked with awakening what many see as a sleeping giant in Celtic. The Serb is no stranger to Africa though; he was previously coach of the Botswana national team and has also led top Angolan side InterClube.

CAPE TOWN CITY

Coach: Benni McCarthy

McCarthy has returned to his home town for what is his first role as a head coach, having only previously worked as an assistant at Belgian side Sint Truiden. He admits that the job has come sooner than he would have liked as he completes his UEFA 'Pro' Licence, but the opportunity was too good to turn down.

CHIPPA UNITED

Coach: Dan Malesela

All appears to be forgiven between coach Malesela and twitchy club owner Siviwe Mpengesi after the latter was sent on "special leave" towards the end of last season as the team battled relegation, only to return for the closing weeks and help them survive. Mpengesi panicked, did an about-turn and now backed his coach for the new season.

FREE STATE STARS

Coach: Sammy Troughton

Troughton was something of a surprise pick for the Free State side having had moderate success in the past, but he knows South African football exceptionally well, having come over as a player from his native Northern Ireland.

Troughton has coached in the PSL before with University of Pretoria and last season guided NFD side Stellenbosch FC to the promotion play-offs.

GOLDEN ARROWS

Coach: Clinton Larsen

Larsen did a fine job in guiding Arrows into the top eight last season, at the same time changing the playing style of the team into a more eye-catching product. He doesn't have the big budget to make major changes at the team, so another top half finish and a cup success would be viewed as an excellent campaign.

KAIZER CHIEFS

Coach: Steve Komphela

Komphela starts his third season at Chiefs and has yet to put anything in the silverware cabinet. A failure to do so again will almost certainly end his stay at Naturena, and he must find a winning formula after seeing clubs with more clout in the transfer market - like Mamelodi Sundowns, Wits and SuperSport United - move ahead of Chiefs in recent seasons.

MAMELODI SUNDOWNS

Coach: Pitso Mosimane

Mosimane signed a new four-year deal at Sundowns earlier this year, extending his successful stay with the club that has yielded two league titles and the African Champions League. He must constantly find new ways to improve Sundowns and will be smarting after losing out in the league to Wits last season.

MARITZBURG UNITED

Coach: Fadlu Davids

Davids has been given the reins of Maritzburg on a permanent basis having done an excellent job as a caretaker last season, steering the team into the top eight for just the second time in their history. The former striker is the youngest coach in the league this season at 36, but it tipped for a fine career in the dug-out.

ORLANDO PIRATES

Coach: Kjell Jonevret

Jonevret is the coach of Pirates as things stand, but KweséESPN understands he will be replaced by the Serb Milutin Sredojevic next week.

Swede Jonevret was unveiled in February, but has failed to improve the team as they limped to their worst league finish in 30 years and were humiliated 4-1 in the Nedbank Cup final.

Sredojevic, who has worked wonders with the Ugandan national side in recent years, was previously Pirates coach from July 2006 to January 2007.

PLATINUM STARS

Coach: Peter Butler

Englishman Butler has taken over the reins at Stars after jumping ship from the Botswana national team job. He is untested in the PSL and comes with a fiery reputation for not mincing his words, something he will have to temper.

Butler was a journeyman midfielder in the English leagues, playing most notably for West Ham United from 1992 to 1994. 

POLOKWANE CITY

Coach: Bernard Molekwa

Molekwa will lead the side on a permanent basis this season after doing well in a caretaker capacity in the last campaign when he took the team to sixth, their highest league finish.

He was the team manager, but took over the coaching after Belgian tactician Luc Eymael left abruptly for Bloemfontein Celtic. When the latter was forced back to the club by the PSL, Molekwa stayed on and impressed.

SUPERSPORT UNITED

Coach: Eric Tinkler

The shift of former SuperSport coach Stuart Baxter to the South African national team left a hole that the club has filled with Eric Tinkler.

The latter was much-maligned during 18 months with Orlando Pirates, but found unexpected success at Cape Town City last season, who he led to third in the league and the Telkom Knockout title.

Tinkler is a former Bafana Bafana midfielder with extensive experience of playing in the top leagues in Europe.

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