Following a string of poor results, Black Leopards' management made the expected decision to fire head coach Maxwell Konadu and his assistant, Solly Luvhengo. According to club chairman Tshifhiwa Thidiela, the duo was officially informed of their dismissal on Monday morning.
Although Black Leopards started the season on a high note, the team's performance deteriorated over the past three months. Lidoda Duvha managed to secure only one victory in their last eight games, with their most recent disappointment being a 1-0 defeat to Leruma United at the TUT Stadium in Pretoria last Saturday.
At one point, Leopards were among the top three teams on the log, but they have since dropped to 10th place. Thidiela said the club could not simply stand by while the team's future looked bleak under Konadu and Luvhengo. He argued that the duo's poor performance constituted a breach of their employment contracts, which were performance-based.
Following their departure, Black Leopards appointed former Moroka Swallows coach Zeca Marques as head coach on Monday afternoon. Marques was introduced to the players during a training session on Tuesday morning.
Thidiela expressed confidence that the team's fortunes would improve under the Portuguese national. He stated that with 13 matches left in the season, anything was still possible. Marques's first assignment with Leopards will be against Cape Town Spurs at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Konadu confirmed that his time with Black Leopards was over but declined to comment further, saying he was preparing to return to his home country, Ghana.