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Cape Town - Chippa United chief executive Peter Koutroulis believes new coach Kosta Papic will bring stability to the newly promoted club and that the days of chopping and changing coaches at a whim are over.
"We
have changed things now.
"People must forget about the firing of coaches.
It's a thing of the past," Koutroulis said on Thursday.
"In football we cannot work like that. We will never repeat that again (firing coaches)."
It was Papic's "impressive" resume that coaxed the Cape Town club into signing him.
"I think he is one of the best coaches we have in the country. His track record speaks for itself and he has coached the best teams in the country."
With his signing, Papic became Chippa's eighth coach in 24 months, after Roger Sikhakhane, Manqoba Mngqithi, Ian Palmer, Farouk Abrahams, Wilfred Mugeyi, Mark Harrison and Vladislav Heric were all shown the door.
The latter was fired unceremoniously in May after guiding the club to Premiership promotion.
Nevertheless, Papic said he is honoured to be back in the country's top-flight after a seven year absence.
"It's an enormous challenge to be part of such an ambitious club as Chippa," Papic said.
The former Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs coach signed a one year contract with the option to renew.
His ominous resignation as Black Leopards coach on Thursday morning opened the door for the Yugoslav to be officially unveiled as Chippa coach hours later.
Papic took Leopards to the brink of PSL promotion, but their quest was thwarted by Polokwane City who won the play-offs and retained their top-flight status.
Media speculation had been abuzz in the last week with reports that the Yugoslavian-born mentor was on the verge of joining the newly promoted Chippa.
However, over the last three months, it was initially Steve Komphela who was touted as the next person to take over at Chippa, but his employers, Maritzburg United, quashed that deal.
"It was a clause in Komphela's contract that caused the deal to fall through," Koutroulis said.
The signing of Papic is the first of many deals that the club intends to strike in the off-season.
Koutroulis confirmed that he was in negotiations with defending league champions Mamelodi Sundowns about the possible signing of some of their surplus players on loan.
"We are in discussions and they know we are interested in some of their players."
Chippa will begin their second stint in the Premiership against Platinum Stars when the league re-opens on August 8, 9 and 10 (dates and venues yet to be specified).
The last time Chippa qualified for the Premiership, their stay in the top-tier did not last long as the club got relegated in the first season (2012/13 campaign).
