ORLANDO Pirates has parted ways with head coach Julio Cesar Leal, with Augusto Palacios replacing him on an interim basis until the end of the season.
“The current technical team will remain the same until the end of the season,” Pirates spokesman Mickey Modisane said yesterday.
“Issues regarding a new coach will also be talked about when the season ends.”
Leal was suspended last month and while Pirates would not give details at the time, it said Leal expressed that he “could not see a way forward”, with the club on a fact-finding mission into their poor performances.
There had been reports of instability in the Pirates camp, with Leal seeming to have lost control of the dressing room.
Pirates, who have won five domestic trophies in the past two seasons, are lying second in defence of their PSL title.
However, they were dumped out in the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League and were eliminated by Free State Stars in the last-16 stage of the Nedbank Cup.
Brazilian Leal was replaced last month on an interim basis by Augusto Palacios.
Pirates said that Leal’s agent, Nadim Mahmood, had called a meeting ahead of the hearing.
The announcement came hours before he was expected to face a disciplinary hearing.
“The Orlando Pirates Football Club board of directors has accepted the parting of ways with the head coach with immediate effect,” the club said.
Some top coaches have been linked to the Pirates hot seat, including former German captain Lothar Matthaus
and Pirates’s treble-winning coach from last season, Dutchman Ruud Krol. – Sapa