BLOEMFONTEIN: The newly appointed Marumo Gallants head coach and Frenchman, Alexandre Lafitte (28), is bracing himself for a baptism of fire as he begins his tenure in South Africa’s top-flight football rank − the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
Having spent just over a month with the Bahlabane ba Ntwa, his gruelling assignment starts with an away fixture against the KwaZulu-Natal-based outfit Richards Bay on Saturday, 9 August.
Lafitte will be the youngest coach to ever appear in the country’s top division. His target is to make a lasting impression – benchmarking on his impressive record of guiding the Ivory Coast team Stade Abidjan to win the league championship in 2023.
Both teams are looking to go beyond their limits after finishing on either side of the PSL bracket.
The KwaZulu-Natal side managed to secure a slot in the top eight bracket after securing 33 points, while the Gallants felt short by a single point.
Lafitte is visiting Bay, a team hoping to redeem itself after early elimination from the MTN 8 Cup knockout tournament.
Saturday’s upcoming fixture will serve as the yardstick for Lafitte for the tough challenge lying ahead in the premier division.
The Gallants consider the tried and tested Frenchman as the candidate to lead them to the promise land of vying for trophies and becoming a football powerhouse.
Upon being unveiled as the head coach on 1 July, Lafitte wasted no time in getting straight to business with his charges in pursuit of mastering his style of football, which has earned him success with Ivory Coast giants, Abidjan. He and his team have started with pre-season training.
He depends on input from his technical team, which includes three assistant coaches along with his compatriot, Julien Outrebon. The others are retained co-assistant coaches Duncan Lechesa and Sundra Govinder, fitness trainers Amos Dhlomo and Mogomotsi Rangaka, as well as goalkeeper coach Jacob Mokhasi.
Lafitte took over the reins from the Moroccan-born Abdeslam Ouaddou, who began his tenure as the head coach of Orlando Pirates in the MTN 8 Cup.
The Frenchman will face off against his counterpart on Tuesday, 12 August, in Bloemfontein when their teams meet in the first round of the premiership.
Meanwhile, the Gallants are breathing a sigh of relief after the PSL’s disciplinary committee imposed a R200 000 fine on them for fielding Monde Mphambaniso.
It was discovered the player had been improperly registered for the just ended PSL term. The relegated Cape Town City raised concerns about the player being ineligible for play.
Despite City being given a favourable verdict after a Safa arbitration, the PSL disciplinary committee fined the Gallants instead of deducting the points for matches in which Mphambaniso featured.
