A Belgian coach has hit back for reports that he allegedly said that coming to coach Free State Stars was a mistake.
In the 2014/15 season, Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet had a brief spell with Ea Lla Koto where he was in charge of 10 league matches before his contract was terminated in November 2014.
Saintfiet's countryman Luc Eymael – who is also a former coach of the Bethlehem outfit – told the Siya crew he was disappointed that the coach allegedly said coming to Stars was a mistake.
"I am a professional coach and highly respected by the Belgian FA and I am a member of the Dutch Professional coach organisation. One golden rule I always respect is to never comment on any colleague. I respect all colleague coaches all over the world. I never said that it was a mistake to coach Free State Stars. I said lovely words about the club and its owners. I only said that it was maybe a mistake with a clear maybe, because at that time I was contacted by Rantsi Mokoena I was still working for the Wadi Degla group, I coached their Belgian team and had the offer to coach Wadi Degla FC in Egypt. But I went to Free State and had – from the first till the last day – a top relationship with players, staff and the owners Michael and Rantsi Mokoena. Even after I left, we stayed in touch," said Saintfiet.
"Don't forget that I had decent results for a club like Free State Stars. In 10 games, I had three wins, two draws and five losses. We were 11th and only three points behind Pirates and Wits the moment I got sacked. The season before me they ended 14th. So that was not bad," the coach added.
"I won the Cecafa Cup with Young Africans, qualified the U17 of Qatar for the World Cup, won several cups, I was coach in different countries with top results, and I have no doubt that I would do that again. I worked for years now with a South African assistant coach Riedoh Berdien. He also worked with me at Free State Stars, Togo, Bangladesh, and Trinidad and Tobago and now in Gambia. Together we can achieve a lot," the coach concluded.
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