Da Gama to make way for Igesund?

Owen da Gama's future at Bloemfontein Celtic is uncertain. Insiders at the club are saying he could leave and make way for Gordon Igesund.

Da Gama's possible departure is linked to tension between him and technical director Mich D'Avray.

A well-placed insider contended that D'Avray should not be Da Gama's boss after he almost led the club into relegation before Da Gama took over and saved the team from the drop.

The news coming from the Siwelele camp is that D'Avray has major input in the team and is also responsible for the signing and re-signing of players - which is frustrating Da Gama.

But he denied this week that his departure was a done deal.

"I have told no one that I am leaving the club. There are a lot of things I am unhappy about but cannot divulge them. This is between me and management.

"I want to stay at the club, the fans are fantastic and the setup is amazing but there are things I need to clarify with management before we can all make the decision," he said.

Da Gama declined to comment about D'Avray's alleged interference.

However, the insider insisted Da Gama would "not stay if his current working conditions do not change".

"How does the club appoint someone who has failed as his boss? There's also Tony de Nobrega and sometimes chairman Jimmy Augousti on the bench. Where in the world have you seen this," said the insider.

It is rumoured that Da Gama will return to Free State Stars, the club he coached before and left under a cloud. Stars officials are said to have resigned themselves to losing Igesund, who is yet to commit himself to Ea lla Koto.

But Celtic management have branded the speculation that Igesund will be joining them next season as nothing but a ploy to destabilise the club.

"We had a target set on and off the field for Owen and the technical team to achieve. So, Owen can only be evaluated at the end of the season.

"There are still two cup tournaments to be played at the end of this season. The club is sitting comfortably on the log and we are happy. We should easily qualify for the Top Eight and things are looking bright compared with the last two seasons when we had to fight to survive relegation," said Celtic CEO Ikie Augousti.

"We have heard about Igesund joining and we want to state categorically that Igesund has not signed any contract with us."

If Igesund moves to Celtic, it will be the seventh club he has coached in the PSL.

Stars boss Mike Mokoena was recently quoted as saying: "I've heard our coach has a pre-contract elsewhere and that he'll probably be leaving us at the end of the season ... there's no smoke without fire and we've already resigned ourselves to losing him. I haven't spoken to the coach, but a search for a new coach will begin in earnest."