Durban City chairman Farook Kadodia and Simo Dladla have given mixed signals in trying to convey the reason behind the decision to part ways after securing promotion to the Betway Premiership.
Dladla was let go by the Motsepe Foundation Championship champions after disagreements arose during contract negotiations.
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In an interview with Ukhozi FM on Wednesday, both Dladla and club chairman Farook Kadodia confirmed the news.
"We have been in negotiations ever since we were crowned champions. Unfortunately, the coach's expectations were on a different level from those of the club, and that led to this outcome. Unfortunately, that’s football," stated Kadodia.
In response, Dladla argued the club boss' portrayal of the situation was not entirely accurate.
"What he said isn't completely true. Immediately after the season ended, the club asked for my report. I was also informed that there were new shareholders who had bought into the team - apparently there are nine of them. I submitted my report for last season, along with my plan for the upcoming season," he explained.
"I was asked to identify which players I wanted to keep and how my technical team would be structured. I provided all that information, and the board was impressed.
"They then inquired about my needs as a coach, including the length of my desired contract and my salary expectations. They also asked if I planned to retain my current technical team or make changes.
"I waited for their counter-offer, but on Sunday, I was asked to meet with the club owners. During that meeting, I was told to lower my demands a bit. They asked, ‘Who do you think we should let go from your technical team, and who should we keep?’ That request was difficult for me to handle because I had built a strong working relationship with my team.
"When it came to salary, I was once again asked to reduce my expectations, and I complied. However, after that, I received a message asking me to lower my demands again. This left me confused, so I requested that they present me with a formal offer detailing what they could afford and what they could not.
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"I made it clear that I would not sacrifice any members of my technical team, as we had worked well together last season.
"Their responses were vague. They would say things like, ‘We will remove X and replace him with Y,’ without specifying who X and Y were. That was the last communication I had with them, and no concrete offer was ever made to me."
Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
