Pitso Mosimane recently made it plain that he doesn’t want to jump into another job right away after leaving Al Ahly, but it increasingly seems as if he is getting ready to scratch the “itch” of returning to a front-line coaching position.
After being formally presented with his CAF Pro Licence by South African Football Association (SAFA) president Dr. Danny Jordaan at a press conference last month, Mosimane has now got it.
Following the firing of manager Zoran Manoljovic by the former Tanzanian league winners on Tuesday, Mosimane was quickly associated with Simba in the most recent rumours.
The hunt for a new coach, according to a statement from Barbara Gonzalez, CEO of Simba, seemed to still be in its early stages.
“The recruitment of the head coach is underway and shall be announced once the new candidate has been identified … We need qualified African coaches who are committed to a long-term project, not tourists and/plumbers.
Mosimane is obviously considering all of his alternatives.
“If there is a good project, not offer, project, of a team that has capacity to win the AFCON, we will consider that,” he said during an interview with Newsroom Afrika.
“But they must be serious, it must never be that they want a coach (just) because they want a coach, and I should also assess this, can we really achieve what we want to achieve.
“So that’s what I’m looking for at the moment. Or, even a club in South Africa that wants to win the Champions League, that wants to win the CAF Super Cup. They must be serious.
“I’ve been four times to the Champions League final, I know how to get there. I also know how not to get there. I’ve failed maybe five times to get to the final, I’ve failed about five times and so I’ve learnt. In football we say it’s about lessons learnt.
“I’ve learnt from my mistakes but now the last three Champions Leagues we’ve been to the final. It means we’ve found the specimen of how do it.”
Where Pitso could coach next is yet unknown.
The reigning CAF Champions League champions Wydad Casablanca may be interested in hiring Mosimane, according to the iDiski Times, but it’s unclear if official contact has been made yet.
Walid Regragui, head coach of Wydad Athletic Club, has amusingly quit after just one season after having guided the Moroccan powerhouses to the double last year.
According to sources from that region of the globe, Mosimane is also coveted in Iraq and is one of the three coaches nominated for the top national position.