Siyabulela Gwambi has been appointed as interim coach of Chippa United and will be in the hot seat in their clash against Marumo Gallants in the DStv Premiership at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Wednesday (7.30pm).
This follows the demotion of Kurt Lentjies, who will now head Chippa’s DStv Diski Challenge side, according to a statement from the club on Monday.
Gwambi, who hails from Gqeberha, has been on the Chippa coaching staff for several years, working mainly as an assistant coach, though he previously served as caretaker coach in 2021.
The news of Lentjies’ demotion was not a surprise given the Chilli Boys’ poor form of late, culminating in their 2-0 defeat to Orlando Pirates at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium at the weekend.
Chippa are winless in six league matches since returning from the World Cup break and have failed to secure a victory at home since January.
They are 14th on the log with 26 points from 25 games — just two points from the relegation playoff spot.
When asked, after Saturday’s defeat, whether he was worried about his job, Lentjies said: “Not at all. I am more worried about the club as a whole and I am more worried about the players.
“Me, I have been there and done that, I obviously do not want to use that “r” word but after Wednesday’s game we will have an indication of our fate.
“We still have five more games to play so when it comes to my job I am not at all worried.”
The 38-year-old player-turned-coach took over the reins at Chippa after the axing of coach Morgan Mammila.
In the four league matches that he has been in charge of the side, Lentjies registered two defeats and two draws.
His only victory was in the Nedbank Cup against Mpheni Home Defenders.
Lentjies said he believed stage fright had led his players to concede early against Pirates.
“I am not happy with the results and obviously with the performance as well,” he said.
“I struggled to recognise my team in the first 45 minutes and unfortunately we conceded a goal during that time.
“But I feel our players couldn’t get rid of the fear factor, the way I saw it.
“We conceded a goal and then when we came out in the second half and the fear factor is gone, you see a different team and you start recognising the team and everything we worked on.
“But the reality is we were up against a fantastic team in Orlando Pirates and they are not second on the log for nothing — lots of teams lost this feature as well.
“We lost the game, we can only take positives out of the second half, but we were nonexistent the first 45 minutes.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.