PSL clubs becoming notorious for firing coaches early in the season

We have not even reached the 10-game mark into the new 2026/27 Betway Premiership season yet and seven coaches at various clubs have been shown the door.

The main reason for the trend is usually a poor start to the campaign.

Club head honchos then feel it wise to wield their sharp axes. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure.

In the context of football, club bosses prefer curbing the bad results early in the season, rather than having to deal with the threat of a relegation battle later.

And, in most cases, pulling the plug when they do does a great deal of good for the clubs.

One of the PSL chairpersons famous for wielding his axe, without fear or favour, is Chippa United’s Siviwe Mpengesi.

To my surprise, current coach Brandon Truter has managed to stay put in the blazing hot seat — at least for now.

However, there is a twist to the short Chippa story because Mpengesi has reportedly fired Diski Challenge coach Dan Malesela.

The less said about their relationship, the better because Mpengesi has fired Malesela at least three or four times.

In romantic terms, the pair have what you would call a “toxic relationship”.

Be that as it may, seven coaches have been fired in the PSL topflight thus far.

The coaches who have been given the boot and the people who have replaced them:

Pitso Dladla (Golden Arrows)

Coach Pitso Dladla is the most recent to be sacked and has been replaced by Mandla Ncikazi from Orlando Pirates.

Dladla’s campaign was not great but it wasn’t bad either.

His team played an exciting brand of football and showed glimpses of a side that can cause an upset on any occasion, even threatening Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 semi-final.

But football is a results-driven sport and that was the case for Dladla during his brief spell at Arrows.

Lehlohonolo Seema (Siwelele FC)

Coach Seema was shockingly relieved of senior duties by Siwelele because of several uninspiring results.

In his defence, one could argue that the club was a bit impatient with him, given that Siwelele parted with 23 players at the start of the season, meaning Seema had to rebuild the team that he had strongly ended the previous campaign with.

But again, football is all about results — and they were not forthcoming in a good way for the coach.

Godfrey Mosoetsa has taken over until a permanent coach is appointed.

Phuti Mohafe (Marumo Gallants)

There was immense excitement surrounding the appointment of Phuti Mohafe after his successful and promising stint at Polokwane City.

But things did not go according to plan.

The lanky coach failed to register a win in the five matches he took charge of, losing three and drawing in the other two.

Chairperson Abram Sello was left with no choice but to show him the door.

Other coaches who have fallen victim to the chop are Ronnie Gabriel from Richards Bay, TS Galaxy’s Bernard Parker and the former Kaizer Chiefs co-coaching duo Khalil Ben Youssef (Durban City) and Cedric Kaze (Sekhukhune United).

Given how things are going in the league, with several mixed and frustrating results for many teams, it seems highly likely that the list of fired coaches will get longer.