Debswana first division north side, Tonota Football Club have sacked their head coach, Mosimanegape Kanono due to poor performance. The former No Mathata gaffer was appointed head coach on a season long contract at the beginning of the current campaign to take Spondo as Tonota FC is popularly known by its legion of supporters to the Promised Land. Management decided to appoint assistant coach, Mpho Njadingwe as the interim manager while they are still searching for Kanono’s replacement.
Since the beginning of the season, Tonota FC has played 5 games, drawn two and lost three. They have conceded 7 goals and failed to hit the net. The team is currently at the 11th position out of 12 teams; they are only above the struggling Francistown City Greens. The team’s spokesperson, Mpho Nkisa confirmed Kanono’s sacking in an interview. “It is true that we have decided to relief Kanano of his duties due to poor performance. We are currently sitting in a precarious position without a single win in the current campaign. We have been monitoring Kanono’s performance since pre-season and when we looked at his track record, we were not satisfied,” Nkisa pointed out, adding that they decided to dismiss Kanono after realizing that the team was not improving and things were moving from bad to worse after conceding too many goals.
Nkisa expressed hope that Njadingwe will turn around the fortunes of the Tonota based team because he has been with the club in lower leagues. “Njadingwe understands the culture of our club. He has been part of the technical team when we were still playing in the lower division and he has a good working relationship with players which give us hope that we might start having good results,” he reasoned.
According to Nkisa, the current players are capable of doing much better and ensure that the team retains its first division status. He stated that they had hoped to sign more players with experience to beef up their squad but they could not secure their services due to financial constraints. “Currently we do not have a sponsor and we really struggle to meet travel expenses especially playing away against teams such as Sankoyo Bush Bucks in Maun,” he narrated.
He said they will closely monitor Ndjadingwe’s performance and if he delivers the desired results, he might guide the team until the end of the season. Nkisa said ever since the announcement of the sacking of Kanono many coaches have been enquiring about the vacant post and have shown interest to apply for the job.