Timeslive - Steve Komphela is not a shoo-in for the Kaizer Chiefs coaching job. Former Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Queiroz emerged as a possible candidate yesterday.
Chiefs will draw up a shortlist of likely replacements for Vladimir Vermezovic, who was given the boot yesterday.
Vermezovic's contract was terminated with immediate effect after an emergency meeting at the club.
His assistant of three seasons, Ace Khuse, will take over for the rest of the season. Khuse will be backed up by two former Chiefs players in Doctor Khumalo and Arthur Zwane.
Amakhosi manager Bobby Motaung said yesterday that the club was in no hurry to name a new coach, but expressed interest in Queiroz, who is still contracted to the Iranian national team.
The former Bafana, Portugal and Real Madrid coach has a glittering CV, but he has only ever been at his best as an assistant to Manchester United's Alex Ferguson in his two stints (2002-03 and 2004-08) at Old Trafford.
Motaung said if Queiroz, who was fired as Bafana coach on the eve of the 2002 World Cup, was keen to return to South Africa for a club side, Chiefs would not hesitate to put him on the shortlist.
Jeff Butler, who was at the helm of Chiefs in 1996, is the only man to have already submitted a CV, but is unlikely to get the job.
Motaung did not rule out a local coach, although Chiefs have preferred Europeans in the last decade.
Komphela's recent appointment as Bafana's assistant coach, while still in charge of Free State Stars, could rule him out of contention for Chiefs.
"The chairman [Kaizer Motaung] has never said a local coach will not take over at Chiefs. He only meant one was not available at the time [before hiring Vermezovic]," said Motaung.
The manager also revealed that Khuse and his new technical team were still expected to win the Absa Premiership this season.
"That objective was not only set for an individual, although Vermezovic was in charge, but the whole team was expected to win the league. And that doesn't change," Motaung said.
He said the reason for letting Vermezovic go before the end of the season, with seven league games still to be played, was to avoid unsettling him while management was interviewing possible candidates.
"We didn't want him to be there while we are looking at possible replacements because he would not be focused.
"We also told him that what happens during the remaining games would not have any bearing on his contract as we were not going to renew it," said Motaung.
VLAD V'S RECORD
AXED Kaizer Chiefs coach Vladimir Vermezovic had a Premier League win ratio of just over 51% in almost three years.
That compares favourably with his peers. No other coach has managed to better that this season, bar Augusto Palacios at Orlando Pirates, who has been in charge for only six league games, winning four. Vermezovic led the team in 83 league matches, winning 42 and suffering 17 defeats for a total of 150 league points.
That is below the standard set by Ted Dumitru between 2003 and 2005, when he led the side to back-to-back league titles, winning 35 of 60 for a win ratio of 58%. - Nick Said