I don't regret suspending Malesela – Mphahlele

Baroka chairman Khurishi Mphahlele insists he doesn't regret changing the technical team after coach Dan Malesela was suspended after their 1-0 defeat to the University of Pretoria in the first match of the promotional playoffs.

Mphahlele says there was no guarantee that Malesela would have won the other matches and they roped in Morgan Mammila who drew two games.

That leaves Baroka's dreams of returning to the DStv Premiership in serious doubt as they have one match remaining away to Richards Bay next week.

Should AmaTuks or Bay win this weekend, Baroka will be officially eliminated from the race, but Mphahlele says he still stands by his decision to suspend Malesela in the crucial stage.

“He [Malesela] lost the match. He was going to lose other games. There was no guarantee that after losing that game he was not going to lose the other matches,” Mphahlele explained to the media after their 1-1 draw with AmaTuks at Global Stadium on Wednesday.

“When was the last time he won here? A long time ago. We should have won the league if it was not for him making those unnecessary changes. If I make a stupid mistake I'm okay, it is part of the game everyone makes mistakes. But, we are still in.”

Mphahlele claimed in the past that Malesela was linking his players to other clubs according to media reports.

However, he said they will start their investigations after their final match of the playoffs.

“The investigations are not concluded because we are focusing on the playoffs. Once we finish the playoffs, then we will focus on the investigations without any disturbance,” he said.

“He is not being charged. He is suspended. There is no charge. We will charge him with rumours we are getting and we will investigate.

“Once we find out if the rumours are indeed correct, then we will charge him. That's why we suspended him with full pay. If the rumours are false, then there is no problem.

“I can't tell you those players while we are still investigating. We will be jeopardising the process.

“Should Baroka fail to qualify for the Premiership, Mphahlele said he would not take the blame as everyone would have failed the club.

“Why should I take the blame? Everybody participated and we failed all of us. We should have won the league and not go to the playoffs.

“We lost the league in the second round. That's where things didn't go well. There was a period where we played five games and we collected two points. That's where we lost the league.”