Molapi not afraidto get the chop

| Tuesday January 14, 2014 15:52

 

Speculation was rife late last year that the club was seriously contemplating getting rid of Molapi.Some supporters and the management were said to be unhappy with the club's performance then.

This was after Gaborone United (GU) booted the club out of the prestigious Mascom Top 8 Cup in the quarterfinal.

Prior to their elimination from the cup ECCO were also performing poorly in the league.

Now, calls by ECCO supporters for Molapi to be shown the door have become louder after the club's loss to Nico United at the Francistown Stadium on Saturday.

The club finished strongly in the league last season but currently occupies an unfamiliar 10th position with 12 games left to wind up the season.

However, Molapi who watched with frustration as his troops went down 2-1 to the Selebi-Phikwe side remains unfazed by talk that he should be sacked.

'In my own assessment I believe I have done well as the coach of the team especially looking at caliber of players I have. So I think do not deserve to be sacked.

'I will, however, not have a problem if I am sacked because it is part of football. If we could have replaced the key players we lost in the off-season with experienced quality players we could have been playing well but the budget has been restricting.

The replacements we have brought in are new in the elite league so they are still learning and it will take time for them to adjust.

'The fans and other stakeholders of the club must be patient with them as eventually results will come,' he said.

At the start of the season ECCO lost Ontse Ntesa, Mmoloki Kafoko, Lesego Lubinda and Patrick Lenyeletse who are all seasoned campaigners and no notable signings were made. This, according to Molapi, explains why the club has struggled.

In a related development, ECCO have roped in former Notwane and Tafic goalminder Vincent Chikumba as goalkeeper coach on a short-term basis.

'He will be here to address a few weaknesses in our goalkeeping department before he returns to his club,' Molapi said.

Meanwhile, Nico United coach Kenneth Mogae has disclosed that he intends to sign four players in the current transfer window.

'For now I do not want to disclose the players we have identified as possible replacements,' he said in an interview after his side's clash with ECCO.