Madida flies out of ailing Swallows' nest

FANI Madida quit as Moroka Swallows head coach in a huff last night, leaving the struggling Absa Premiership side in a crisis ahead of their league game against Kaizer Chiefs tomorrow.

A run of poor results this year has plunged Swallows into relegation trouble, with the Birds occupying 15th spot in the standings. Madida confirmed he had quit in an interview with the SABC last night.

"We parted ways amicably. I didn't get fired, I don't burn that easily," Madida said in a telephonic interview. He conceded Swallows' horrible run in 2015 - they lost four of their last five games - meant he could no longer continue to guide the club.

"We didn't have consistency. We tried to change the system but results were just not coming. We didn't have the luck," Madida said.

He guided Swallows to one win this year, which came last week at home to Free State Stars, but the Birds' loss to Black Aces at the weekend seemed to be the final straw. Swallows were also bundled out of the Nedbank Cup by the University of Pretoria in the first round.

Now coach-less, they face table-topping Chiefs in Dobsonville tomorrow, knowing that another defeat would leave them with the real possibility of automatic relegation.

Swallows is ahead of bottom side AmaZulu by just five points.

Madida was appointed Swallows caretaker coach in October last year, replacing Zeca Marques, who offered to resign following a poor start to the season. A third coach of this season will face a mammoth task trying to save one of the country's oldest clubs from the axe.