Black Leopards will be campaigning in the Absa Premiership Division in the 2010/11 soccer season if their new head coach, Mr Marino Marinica’s words are anything to go by.

In a telephone interview on Monday, Marinica revealed that his aim was to see Lidoda Duvha campaign in the elite division in a year’s time.

He stated that he had been following Black Leopards from abroad for some time and that he was convinced that Leopards were a force to reckon with.

He said that he found no reason why a good team like Black Leopards should stay in the National First Division for two seasons. According to him, Leopards should have returned back to the Absa Premiership Division at the end of last season, when one takes into account the quality of football they display. Marinica further stated that he would make Leopards reclaim their lost pride during his stay with them over the next two years.

The Romanian-born coach entered into a two-year contract with the Thohoyandou outfit last week. Marinica said that some of his short-term goals included winning a cup competition. “If we manage to win a cup competition, it will be a bonus to the people of Thohoyandou as my primary objective is to win the league title,” he said.

When asked which departments would be the first to be reinforced, Marinica said that he still needed more time to see the team before he could make such kind of recommendations to the management. “I have learnt that the management is busy negotiating the extension of contracts with some of the players and for that reason I am not sure of the players who will still be with the team at the beginning of the season,” he said.

Marinica further stated that he was happy with see that his assistant, Mr Innocent Mayoyo, was a man who knew South African type of football inside and out, especially at the National First Division level. Marinica and Mayoyo replace Vladislav Heric and Joel Masutha, who were the team’s head coach and assistant respectively until the end of last season.