Ramoreboli named letsoaka’s assistant

Ascending the ladder … Morena Ramoreboli has been appointed Serame Letsoaka’s assistant at Siwelele Park

• Lechesa and Seema demoted to development structures
• Contract to be finalised next week

Bloemfontein Celtic have elevated Morena Ramoreboli, 36, to the role of assistant coach where the he will play a pivotal role in trying to turn the club’s fortunes around alongside head coach, Serame Letsoaka.

This is according to a statement released by the club on Thursday, where club CEO Khumbulani Konco announced that the club had resolved to promote Ramoreboli, who was appointed head of development in July this year, to first team assistant coach. Meanwhile former assistants Duncan Lechesa and Lehlohonolo Seema’s responsibilities at the club have been shifted to the MultiChoice Diski Challenge (MDC).

Konco revealed that the technical team readjustments were effected as per Letsoaka’s request, with Ramoreboli set to be on the Celtic bench in the club’s next fixture against Platinum Stars on October 15.

“We had a reflective meeting with Coach Serame where he asked to work with Morena as his assistant and as a team we decided to give him the necessary support by agreeing and subsequently redeploying both Duncan Lechesa and Lehlohonolo Seema to work as co-coaches for our MDC team.”

Ramoreboli’s appointment is quite a significant step in his coaching career, having proven himself as hot coaching prospect in the National First Division (NFD) where he used to coach QwaQwa outfits Maluti FET and African warriors – who have both since been relegated from the second tier league.

One monumental highlight of his career was when he led Maluti to a 4-1 victory Orlando Pirates in the 2013 edition of the Nedbank Cup, knocking the Soweto giants out of the tournament in the round of last 32 teams.

Although Celtic have already made the announcement, a reliable source has told The Weekly that the matter has only been agreed to in principle.

“The deal has not yet been finalised, there are still some contractual aspects that need to be finalised and they will most probably be finalised next week,” said the source.

A new trend in terms of the appointment and disposal of coaches has emerged at Siwelele Park over the past few years. Many would recall former Celtic head coach, Clinton Larsen was lined-up in the Celtic development structures before replacing belligerent German tactician, Ernst Middendorp.

With Celtic’s persisting streak of bad results – which seem to have been carried over from the previous season – it leaves one to wonder if Ramoreboli is destined to take over the reins in the next few months or even weeks. Celtic are currently at the bottom of the log with one draw, two losses and no win to show.

Konco has, however, already dismissed this assumption, stating that the club is merely rotating coaches in order for them to gain experience.

“It is absolutely imperative to continue rotating coaches to gain experience within our structures because that will ultimately benefit both individuals and the team,” Konco said in the statement.
He added: “We are in a fortunate position in that we have highly qualified and equally competent coaches who understand the importance of working collectively, and understand youth development.”

He also tried to brush off perceptions that Lechesa and Seema were in fact demoted.

“If you look at some of the players promoted this season to the senior team, those players were nurtured by the same coaches (Lechesa and Seema) while still working with the MDC team.
“We are confident that they will unearth more players that will be promoted to the senior team,” Konco said.