Ernst Middendorp’s 19th job in the last 16 years has sunk to the same depressing circumstances that he faced last season with relegation the common denominator.
Middendorp – previously relegated from the Bundesliga with Arminia Bielefeld – went down with SV Meppen to the fourth tier (Regionalliga Nord) of German football after failing to escape the drop in 3.Liga last season.
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He had joined in March 2023 after dumping Moroka Swallows, where he spent less than three months in charge.
The veteran gaffer then dumped Meppen three games into the new season, before taking the head coach job at Tanzanian Ligi Kuu Bara club Singida Big Stars, where he lasted less than a month.
On November 17, 2023, Middendorp then took up the Spurs job in the hope of saving them from the drop, taking over while they still had three points from 11 games.
The German gaffer has tried, adding 12 points on board from 15 matches, but that hasn’t been enough.
Spurs now trail second-from-bottom Richards Bay FC – who occupy the Play-Offs position – by eight points with only four games to play.
The Capetonians will now need to win all four – the same number that they have won in 26 – to then give themselves a chance of avoiding the chop.
This will be provided Richards Bay don’t add more than three points from their games against Polokwane City, Orlando Pirates, Cape Town City (all away), and at home against Stellenbosch FC.
Spurs will also have three away games in a row at Royal AM, SuperSport United and Golden Arrows, before they host Kaizer Chiefs on the last day.
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Of note is the fact that in the period since the DStv Premiership became a 16-team league, no club has ever been able to move off the bottom and survive after recording double-figure digits at Christmas.
Hellenic went down in the 2003/04 season just like Mpumalanga Black Aces in the 2010/11 campaign, Polokwane City (2019/20 season) and Baroka FC (2021/22).
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