Following the departure of the team’s head coach, Mr Abel Makhubele, and the technical director, Mr Sunday Chidzambwa, three weeks ago, Black Leopards are intending to make an announcement about the appointment of a new coach early next week.

Makhubele and Chidzambwa’s contracts were not extended when they expired at the end of last month. The management’s decision not to renew their contracts  did not come as a shock to the football-loving community as the two failed to save the team from relegation to the NFD. Lidoda Duvha finished their league programme at the bottom of the log with only 23 points.

In an interview with Limpopo Mirror earlier this week, the club’s marketing manager, Mr Tshifhiwa Thidiela, revealed that the process of appointing the new coach was at an advanced stage. He indicated that they wanted to appoint the new coach before the team resumed their training sessions in three weeks' time.

When asked whether they were planning to release some of their seasoned players and replace them with first-division material, Thidiela said that they would leave it to the new coach. “We will wait for the new coach to advise us on the way forward,” he said.

Chidzambwa joined Black Leopards three seasons ago. At that stage, the Thohoyandou outfit was still campaigning in the National First Division. Apart from promoting the team from the National First Division to the Absa Premiership in the 2010/11 soccer season, Mr Chidzambwa drove the Lidoda Duvha ship to the final of the Nedbank Cup the very same season.

The club decided to relieve him of his coaching post and made him a technical director, following allegations of match-fixing early last season. He was reinstated to the post towards the end of the season after he was cleared of all allegations.