DURBAN – Pitso Mosimane is on course to add yet another accolade to his long list of achievements.
The Mamelodi Sundowns coach delivered the Brazilians’ ninth Premier Soccer League (PSL) title triumph this past weekend, his fourth during his six years at the club.
The success, earned courtesy of a 1-0 win over a Free State Stars side that got relegated, saw him go tied with Gordon Igesund, the late Ted Dumitru and Gavin Hunt on the list of the most successful coaches in the history of the PSL.
His success, though, is made all the more special by the fact that Mosimane is the only one of the quartet to win the championship with one club.
On Monday, the man popularly referred to as Jingles was announced as one of the three nominees for the Coach of the Season award.
He is in competition with Orlando Pirates’ Micho Sredojevic and Benni McCarthy of Cape Town City.
Given the fact that he won the championship in a season that saw him lead Sundowns to the Caf Champions League semi-finals, Mosimane should surely be the favourite to win the gong he has previously clinched on four occasions.
He won three with Sundowns and the other one when he was at SuperSport United. He had not led Matsatsantsa to the league title.
It is for that reason that it is almost a foregone conclusion that Mosimane will be the one smiling big at Durban’s International Convention Centre on Sunday, where the awards ceremony will be held.
While he defended the title, the fact that Pirates’ Serbian mentor pushed him all the way to the last match of the season makes Sredojevic a serious contender.
He has transformed the Buccaneers since taking over the coaching reigns at the club.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/orlandopirates?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@orlandopirates57 points is their highest tally at the end of an #AbsaPrem season since 2011/12 when they won the league. On four of the previous five occasions when they won 57 points or more, they went on to win the @OfficialPSL title. Nearly. pic.twitter.com/fiAs4JuODQ
— OptaJabu (@OptaJabu)
Last season he also led Pirates to second spot, and this time around, Mosimane beat him by just two points.
The fact that Pirates also reached the Telkom Knockout final, where they lost to Baroka, shows that Micho has had a splendid season that makes him worthy of the nomination.
McCarthy, on the other hand, continues to impress. The former Bafana Bafana striker is punching way above his weight in only his second season in charge.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/CTCFCAWARDS19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CTCFCAWARDS19🔥🏆 #iamCityFC💙 pic.twitter.com/icFxDAieI4
— Cape Town City FC (@CapeTownCityFC)
He got City to finish in fourth spot, one up from last season’s fifth.
And many have highlighted the fact that he did so despite two of his key players in Thabo Nodada and Ronald Pustche missing a good number of matches due to injuries. Added to that, McCarthy also won the MTN8 title, and you have a pretty tough call to make on who the coach of the season should be.
However, many will, no doubt, bet on Mosimane reigning supreme.
@Minenhlecr7