Kickoff (Cape Town)
25 November 2008
The coaching merry-go-round is well underway in Port Elizabeth with the race to fill Vladislav Heric's shoes at Bay United heating up.
Umlilo's goalkeeper coach Pernell McKop is currently standing in, but he is on record as telling the Dispatch newspaper in East London that he is not really keen on being in the hot seat and would be happier coaching keepers.
Talk in the Windy City is that Boebie Solomons, Khabo Zondo and Ian Palmer are among the front-runners to fill the vacancy left by Heric's departure.
Solomons surprised the management of First Division Winners Park last week by handing in his letter of resignation.
The former Bidvest Wits, Maritzburg United, Santos and Black Leopards' coach told KickOff.com soon afterwards that he wanted to return to Cape Town to be close to his family.Solomons and McKop, who is from Zimbabwe, worked together at Santos.
Former Bafana Bafana assistant coach Khabo Zondo, who has also had spells at Golden Arrows and Bloemfontein Celtic, recently denied reports linking him with a move to First Division Inland Stream side Mpumalanga Black Aces.
The jobless Zondo was in East London last weekend when Ajax Cape Town beat Bay United 3-1 and this has led to him being touted as a front-runner for the job.
However, Zondo has also been doing some talent scouting for Celtic's Mich D'Avray and this could justify his being in East London.
Intriguingly, the third candidate for the Bay post is Ian Palmer, who was recently appointed assistant to Orlando Pirates' new Dutch mentor, Rudi Krol.
Palmer, an ex-Bucs' striker, has been head coach of FC AK and Maritzburg United in the past and has also worked with McKop at the two clubs in the First Division.
A move for Palmer to the coastal club is not out of the bounds of reality as Bucs' boss Irvin Khoza always appears to give members of the Pirates' family a chance to improve themselves.A case in point being Ephraim 'Shakes' Mashaba's loan move to the Swaziland national team.
Mashaba, who has a two-year deal with Isihlangu Semnikati, is currently waiting on South Africa's neighbours to decide on his future because their national team does not have a busy schedule ahead of them.
If the Swazis decide to release Mashaba, he is likely to return to Parktown North which, in turn, would free the 42-year-old Palmer to make a move to Bay United.
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