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Johannesburg - Mpumalanga Black Aces' new coach Paul Dolezar has had a major clean up at the struggling Witbank-based PSL outfit.
The no-nonsense former Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns coach placed 15 players on transfer on Monday ahead of Wednesday night’s Absa Premiership relegation showdown against Moroka Swallows at Dobsonville Stadium.
Among the players who will leave the club are Democratic Republic of Congo-born club captain and defender Felix Musasa, defender Sibusiso Dabi, Ivory Coast-born striker Brice Aka, Zambian striker Lottie Phiri and former Black Leopards' striker Walter Ramulondi.
"We are fighting for our lives, and when I arrived at Aces at the start of the month and looked over the squad I realised we needed to get rid of a lot of players who are not in my plans and bring in players who can help us save from club from relegation," said Dolezar.
The French-speaking, Serbian-born coach is also set to make another major signing.
"I am hoping to tie up a deal with a striker hopefully before we play Swallows," he said.
Dolezar also announced that he is close to signing a Nigerian striker to beef up his attack.
"I have a striker from Nigeria who arrives here on Tuesday. I am told he is top class and, with the local player I am in negotiations with, the two could help solve my biggest problem, and that [is that] we are not scoring goals."
Last week, Dolezar pulled a coup when he signed former Bafana Bafana midfield star Benedict Vilakazi from Sundowns, and midfielder David Mathebula and defender Thabang Rooi from Chiefs.
Dolezar has seen Aces lose 1-0 to both Maritzburg United and Bloemfontein Celtic this month, but believes he can turn the corner against Swallows.
The Birds notched their first win of the season when they beat BidVest Wits 1-0 at Milpark at the weekend to move off the foot of the table.
Aces are bottom with five points. The Birds are on eight points.
"I watched Swallows beat Wits. They are a fighting side, but I am not afraid. We can beat them. What has encouraged me was the way we have improved in a short time against Celtic," said Dolezar.
"It was a goalkeeping blunder [from Francis Chansa] that gifted Celtic their win, but I am not blaming Chansa as every keeper makes mistakes," he said.
"Overall, we played well against Celtic. The biggest worry for me was that while we created goal-scoring chances, we failed to score.
"If we are to get out of relegation we need to solve this problem quickly and hopefully the two strikers I intend signing this week will go a long way in rectifying this problem."
