The future of the Black Leopards coach, Mr Boebie Solomons, as the head coach for the Thohoyandou Absa Premiership side is in the balance. This follows his suspension without pay, which came into effect on Sunday, a day after their 0-2 defeat at the hands of Amazulu at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban.

Solomons suspension follows his team’s string of poor results. Lidoda Duvha had lost five matches in a row, with the exclusion of their Wednesday results against Moroka Swallows. When asked as to whether he was suspended or fired, Solomons said that "basically what happened is that the club chairman, Mr David Thidiela, approached me over this weekend and advised me to resign, and I told him that I will think about it."

Solomons said that the next day he was summoned to a meeting that was chaired by the club’s chief executive officer, Mr Kenneth Makhanya. He further indicated that it was in that meeting where he was told that he has been suspended without pay and that he should stay away from the club activities until further notice.

Solomons told Mirror that the only thing he asked from Mr Makhanya was to put everything in writing, which he did. If his suspension gives rise to a dismissal, he will be the 16th coach to leave Lidoda Duvha since they gained promotion to the elite league in 2001.

The only time Leopards had one coach for a full season was during the 2001/2 season when Gavin Hunt helped them to finish their league programme in position eight, thus making it the most successful season for the local lads.

The chairperson for the club, Mr David Thidiela, confirmed Solomons’ suspension but refused to comment further, saying the coach was still to appear before the club’s disciplinary hearing. The team’s goalkeeper coach, Mr Joel Masutha, was appointed the caretaker coach just to keep the home fire burning for the time being. Black Leopards will play against Orlando Pirates at the Johannesburg Stadium tomorrow evening.