Richards Bay have appointed Vasili Manousakis as the head coach until the end of the season, with his new contract including a two-year option, as previously revealed by the iDiski Times.
The club also confirmed that Manousakis has signed a contract until the end of the season with a two-year option to renew.
The former AmaZulu assistant coach will have Pitso Dladla, who helped the club gain promotion to the top flight from the second division last season, as his assistant coach alongside Ronnie Gabriel, who was Dladla’s assistant last term.
“Richards Bay Football Club would like to announce the appointment of Mr. Vasili Manousakis as the first team Head Coach on a permanent basis till the end of the current season, with an option to sign up for two years,” said the club in a statement.
“Mr. Pitso Dladla and Mr. Ronnie Gabriel will remain as the Assistant Coaches.”
Manousakis was initially appointed by the club at the beginning of the season as technical advisor. But when the season was about to start, club chairman Sifiso Biyela appointed him as co-coach with Dladla.
Bay started the season well, winning seven games in the first round of the season to be up there at the top, lying second spot for the majority of the season.
However, results in the second half of the season have been patchy, with only one league win since the resumption of the season post the FIFA World Cup break.
They are without a win in seven league matches since beating Marumo Gallants in January, but that has triggered the management to give Manousakis the full-time job.
This is the first head coaching role in Manousakis’ career, as he has served as Benni McCarthy’s assistant both at Cape Town City and AmaZulu.
Clarity for the head coach job at the club comes at the crucial time when they lost one of their key players of last season – Sphamandla Mtolo, their captain, who tragically passed away a few weeks ago at a training session.
With Manousakis now appointed as the head coach, it means Golden Arrows is the only club left in the top flight that has co-coaches.
