After suspending him for a week without pay, Black Leopards have finally expelled their coach, Boebie Solomons. Solomons was served with a suspension letter two weeks ago, shortly after Lidoda Duvha’s 0-2 defeat at the hands of Amazulu at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban.

His suspension, which was followed by a dismissal, followed a string of the team’s poor results in their recent matches. Last Wednesday’s 1-3 defeat against Moroka Swallows was the sixth in a row for Lidoda Duvha. Solomons was summoned to appear before the club’s disciplinary hearing last Wednesday evening.

The meeting was postponed until last Friday. It was in that meeting where the former Santos and Bidvest Wits mentor was fired. The goalkeepers’ coach, Joel Masutha, was appointed the caretaker-coach after the suspension of Solomons.

Masutha was on the bench when Leopards donated league points to Moroka Swallows last Wednesday. He also guided the team to an unexpected goalless draw against Orlando Pirates at the Johannesburg Stadium last Saturday night.

In an interview with Mirror this week, Solomons said that he knew from the start that his suspension would lead to dismissal, saying that was what forced him to start looking for a new job immediately after his suspension. "I knew that my appearance before the club’s disciplinary committee was just a formality as my dismissal was a foregone conclusion," he said. Solomons is now the head coach for the Mvela Golden League side, Winnerspark.

Negotiations with the former Nigerian national team coach, Austin Equavoen, to replace Solomons were at an advanced stage at the time of going to press.

Leopards will play against Inspection FC in a Nedbank KO match at the Secunda Stadium tomorrow.