Relegation pains: Smarting Maritzburg United part ways with coach Fadlu Davids

Coach Fadlu Davids and his technical team have reportedly parted ways with Maritzburg United as the pain of relegation from the DStv Premiership continues to sting at the Midlands club.

The reports come barely a week since the death knell fell at Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg after United officially slipped into the National First Division (NFD) following a playoff draw with now-promoted Cape Town Spurs.

Club chairman Farook Kadodia, still smarting as he comes to grips with the Team of Choice’s lot in the NFD, released a scathing statement on the club’s website on Sunday saying the club “felt betrayed by a few individuals” during the Promotion/Relegation Playoffs campaign in the days after the axe fell.

Maritzburg, unable to score a crucial goal against the Cape Town Spurs in the 0-0 stalemate to remain in the top tier of South African football, had to accept what looked inevitable for large periods of their 2022/23 campaign.

READ: Apologetic Fadlu Davids rues Maritzburg's relegation: 'We were just not good enough'

They finished 15th in the regular season with seven wins, nine draws and 14 defeats, which included a worrying goal difference of -16.

Kadodia’s statement on Sunday read: “To the players, we felt betrayed by a few individuals whose questionable concessions of goals during the critical stages of our battle for survival proved detrimental. 

“The absence of an attacking approach in search of a winning goal was overshadowed by unappealing defensive tactics.

“It is disheartening to realise that you unwittingly assisted those who hindered our progress, even as the club diligently fulfilled its obligation to honour your contracts and provide timely salary payments.”

Kadodia told SABC Sport on Monday that he was