Black Leopards’ new coach has ambitious plans

Black Leopard’s new coach, Mr Patrick Aussems, was not given much of an opportunity to acclimatize. On Monday morning, shortly after his arrival in the country last Saturday, he was introduced to the players at the team’s training session in Polokwane.

During an interview with the Limpopo Mirror shortly after his introduction to the players, Mr Aussems said that his aim was to change Black Leopards to one of the highly respected teams on the continent.

He revealed that he was aware of the fact that Lidoda duvha had escaped the relegation axe by a whisker the past two seasons and that they had managed to retain their elite franchise through the relegation/promotion playoffs in the season that had come to an end two weeks ago. He further indicated that his team would be ready to absorb any amount of heat when the activities for the new season started in two weeks’ time.

He reiterated that he had watched a number of Black Leopards’ games on television over the past years and that he knew some of the players and the type of football the team played before he had taken the job offer from the club. He stressed the fact that he was no stranger to South African football. He said that he had come to South Africa twice before for pre-season camps while he had still been the head coach for the Tanzanian side, Simba FC.

The 55-year-old Belgian mentor further revealed that while in South Africa for the pre-season camps, they had played rehearsal games against a number of teams, including Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. He said that his short-term goal was to see Black Leopards among the top eight teams at the end of next season.

“My long-term goals include winning some silverware for the club in my second season,” he said. Mr Aussems restated that he had entered into a three-year contract with the Thohoyandou side. He appealed to the team’s enthusiastic fans not to think about the team’s facing relegation anymore, saying he was there to ensure that the team restored their lost pride.

Date:08 October 2020

By: Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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