Mamelodi Sundowns have dismissed Manqoba Mngqithi and replaced him with Portuguese Miguel Cardoso with immediate effect.
According to a club statement, Cardoso’s appointment was necessitated by the recent unsatisfactory results.
“The introduction of the new Coaching Technical Team was necessitated by the recent unsatisfactory results despite the commitment of the Sundowns Board to give Manqoba Mngqithi and his Technical Team an opportunity to lead the Club going into the future.
Coach Miguel was the Head Coach of Espérance Sportive de Tunis and reached the finals of the 2023/24 CAF Champions League.
He joined Sundowns with three of his assistants namely, Fabio Fernandes, Pedro Azevedo and João Araújo,” read a statement from the club.
In addition, the club’s Chairperson Tlhopie Motsepe, said they haven’t been happy with the recent results.
“In recent months our team has struggled to meet that ambition and the high standards we set for ourselves.
We needed to go in another direction,” said Motsepe during a media briefing at the club’s headquarters in Chloorkop.
Mngqithi has only been at the helm of the club for five months, after replacing head coach Rulani Mokwena.
Despite the club sitting at the top of the Betway Premiership, the Brazilians have had a lukewarm start to their season.
The club was knocked-out of the MTN8 semi-final by Stellenbosch FC and suffered 2-1 defeat to Magesi FC in the Carling Knockout final.
His last match was a 1-all draw against AS FAR Rabat in Morocco in the CAF Champions League on Saturday.
Moreover, the club added that senior coach Steve Komphela and goalkeeper-coach Kennedy Mweene will remain as part of the club’s new Technical Team.
Mngqithi’s assistant coach Romain Folz and goalkeeper coach Wendell Robinson were also fired by Sundowns.
Miguel has coached in Portugal, Spain, France, Greece, and Ukraine at some of the biggest Clubs such as Porto, Braga, Deportivo La Coruna, Celta Vigo, AEK Athens, Nantes and Shaktar Donetsk.
Cardoso’s first match might be against Raja Casablanca at Loftus on Sunday.
The club said the new coaches will be introduced to the players when they return to training on Wednesday.
