Mamelodi Sundowns legend Roger Feutmba has weighed in on the club's decision to part ways with coach Rulani Mokwena.
The DStv Premiership champions recently confirmed the departure of Mokwena, with his assistant Manqoba Mnqithi leading the team on a caretaker basis.
Feutmba believes Mokwena was fired because he could not fulfill the mandate of winning the club their second CAF Champions League, after losing to Esperance in the semi-finals.
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"A football club when they bring a coach in, they always give him a mandate," Feutmba tells KickOff.
"There is always a target, there's always expectations, and I believe Rulani couldn't fulfill his. Sundowns can never let a coach go without a valid reason.
"So in this case the reason may be that the mandate was not reached. Winning the league at Sundowns is normal and everyone knows that.
"But the main target at Sundowns is to be the best in Africa, and to be the best in Africa you need to compete and beat the best of African teams, and go on and win the Champions League. That is the reality.
"I believe that is one of the reasons they let him go. They believe with him they won't reach that target.
"With the stuff around him, they believe the club should be more competitive. And another reason, remember at one stage Steve Komphela was there, and he left, and one of the reasons was that Rulani didn't want to be around.
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"If the management gives you all the support you need and at the end of the day there's no result and the mandate is not met, it's normal that as a coach you are told leave the club.
"That is football, there is nothing new here. Every start of the season teams set themselves a target, and at Sundowns the target is not only winning the league. The main target is the Champions League.
"On Manqoba Mnqithi the pressure might be a little bit more since he's been part of the technical team, if he was new maybe he was going to be given two seasons to win the Champions League.
"In football, if they feel by keeping you they won't reach their target they have to let you go, and that's what they did Sundowns with Rulani."