Coach Stanford Nkoane has parted ways with Baroka after they couldn’t beat Casric Stars on Friday, managing to get a draw late in the match.
Former Golden Arrows captain Matome Mathiane’s finish late on from close range proved not enough for Nkoane to be kept as he was hauled off to the meeting by the club on Thursday following a poor start in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, which was previously revealed by this publication.
It was Nkoane’s first season as the head coach after he initially replaced Bushy Moloi on an interim basis earlier this year last season.
Bakgaga, who were relegated at the end of the 2021/22 season from the PSL top flight, have started this season poorly.
They have lost two and drawn three of the five matches played, and are lying 13th in the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
It has sealed his stay with the Limpopo club, who have strong ambition of coming back in the top flight.
Baroka, when they were relegated two seasons ago, became just the second team in the PSL era to be demoted without winning an away match, after Ajax Cape Town (now Cape Town Spurs) in the 2017/18 season.
Nkoane’s appointment by Baroka came in the second half of last season after Moloi was put aside as results were not coming, with the latter having replaced Vincent Kobola during the FIFA World Cup break.
Nkoane holds a record in South African club football as he was in charge of Vaal University of Technology (VUT) in the Nedbank Cup in the 2019/20 season that beat Steve Komphela’s Golden Arrows on penalties, becoming the first side from the fourth tier to beat a team from PSL top flight.
VUT were then defeated by Mamelodi Sundowns in the last 16, who went on to win the competition. After that Nkoane went on to join Royal Eagles and Sekhukhune United, forming part of Babina Noko’s technical team that secured the PSL top-flight promotion.
