Pitso Mosimane continues to be linked to Chiefs. Image: ©Gavin Barker/BackpagePi
Pitso Mosimane reveals: Why I joined ‘small’ Abha FC
Popular coach Pitso Mosimane has revealed why he opted to join Abha Football Club after weighing up various options.
Pitso Mosimane continues to be linked to Chiefs. Image: ©Gavin Barker/BackpagePi
After spending a period on the open job market, Pitso Mosimane opted to sign a short-term contract with the Saudi Pro League side, the Abha Club.
It was an interesting decision considering that Mosimane went from coaching teams that were contending for titles, to working with a club that is fighting to escape relegation.
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However, he has explained what attracted him to this latest project.
“Abha is one of the league’s ‘small’ teams. But there’s ambition, there’s a bit of experience. We need to try to do things a little differently,” Mosimane told The National.
“If we can save them from relegation, there’s an opportunity to then make them much, much better. It’s an adventure, and I like adventures.
“For me it’s about the challenge and, I guess, I’m trying to finish a story. If I personalise it, I won promotion to this league with Al Ahli, so I should be in the Pro League,” he added. “Of course the conditions are different. It’s now the biggest league in the Gulf, maybe in Asia.”
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Yet it should be noted that this is only a short-term deal with Abha, and although there is of course a strong possibility that the veteran coach could stay on, there is no clarity around this just yet.
Perhaps it could leave the door open for Chiefs to prepare an official offer to Mosimane to take up a permanent project at Naturena after his stint with the Abha club.
“The Chiefs management was happy to hear that Pitso (Mosimane) has signed a short-term deal with that club from Saudi Arabia,” a source told The Citizen. “Kaizer (Motaung) senior ias a fan of Pitso and when he said some time ago that only two local coaches could coach Chiefs, one of those coaches he was talking about was Pitso.”
There is further substance to this, with Soccer Laduma now also reporting that Chiefs could line up negotiations during this six month period while Mosimane is on duty in Saudi.
“The deal between Chiefs and coach Pitso is a positive move and they will have a chance to get him at the start of next season,” a source was quoted as saying. “Pitso has signed a six-month contract and that’s what gives them hope that their talks could yield results. They believe in Mosimane.”
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“Great to be back on the pitch,” he wrote on X. “An exciting new journey ahead … Ready to put in the work necessary to elevate the team. Thank you to the President and the Boards for entrusted me with this responsibility. With our supporters behind us, inshallah we will build something special.”
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Would Pitso be interested?
Even before the end of last year, Mosimane effectively ruled out the possibility of coaching an African club any time soon, despite Chiefs being on the look out. It’s also likely that his required salary would price him out of Chiefs’ reach.
However, it remains to be seen whether some nifty negotiation could see Pitso have a change of heart.
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