After the unceremonious departure of Dylan Kerr, returning Marumo Gallants head coach Dan Malesela has opened up for the first time in his role ahead of their Betway Premiership opener against Kaizer Chiefs.
On Tuesday Gallants announced that Kerr left his role as the club's head coach due to disagreements over co-coaches that were suggested to him.
Surprisingly, Bahlabane Ba Ntwa did not announce the suggested co-coaches but instead announced Malesela as the head coach.
READ | Kerr: Would Pitso, Riveiro, Mourinho accept it?
Speaking to KickOff on Wednesday, the former Baroka mentor was not sure himself about his appointment, after stating that he was yet to agree terms with the returning Betway Premiership outfit, who bought the status of Moroka Swallows.
Gallants finished 11th last season in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, five points above the relegation zone while Swallows ended up in 14th spot in the Premier division, as they escaped relegation by two points.
Ahead of the Betway Premiership opener against Chiefs on 14 September, Malesela says their aim is to float just above the bottom half of the table.
"We want to try as much as possible not to find ourselves in the bottom half, because that puts pressure on the team and it casts doubts as to whether you'll be able to make it or not," Malesela said at the club's training ground on SuperSport Blitz.
"So we want to try from the beginning to keep ourselves within the top ten reasonably and see how far we can aim."
READ | Malesela: I haven't signed with Gallants
The former Orlando Pirates defender also revealed that he has started to assess the squad and he's looking to reduce the roster ahead of the new campaign.
"I [only] started yesterday but I already have an idea who is going to do what, who is not going to be able to do what," Malesela went on.
"Trimming down a little bit, because we've got about 38 players, maybe just cut them down to 30 and we can take it from there," the former Pirates captain added.