THERE was little surprise when Ajax Cape Town unveiled Roger de Sa as their new coach yesterday, as it was becoming the worst-kept secret in South African football.

Even the 49-year-old De Sa had tweeted the night before, "Ocean breeze and a mountain view ... could be good for me", providing the strongest hint yet that he was about to take over at Ikamva.

Ajax say they have been taken in by De Sa's Premier Soccer League experience and his history of working with development structures, most notably at Bidvest Wits where he had great success in bringing through young talent.

The Urban Warriors had initially sent through a list of five names for their vacant post to mother club Ajax Amsterdam, which did not include De Sa.

But when he suddenly became available following his resignation from Orlando Pirates late last month, he was immediately installed as favourite despite denials from both sides.

"After a long deliberation and thorough analysis of all the applications that we have received, we believe that we have found the right man to steer us forward," Ajax executive director Ari Efstathiou said yesterday.

"Roger has proved himself as an astute coach with a good understanding of South African football, having coached at Bidvest Wits [twice], Santos and Orlando Pirates ...

"In the 2002-03 season Roger won the PSL Coach of the Year award while at the reins of Bidvest Wits.

"He also coached at national level, having assisted Carlos Quieroz [with Portugal] as a goalkeeper coach ..."

De Sa takes over from Ian Taylor, who led the side in five matches following the departure of Muhsin Ertugral last month.

Those matches resulted in three defeats, a single win and one draw.

De Sa faces a baptism of fire when he sits on the bench for the first time tonight as Ajax look to advance to the second round of the Nedbank Cup at the expense of in-form Mamelodi Sundowns at the Athlone Stadium.

His first league match will be a week later when Polokwane City visit Cape Town on February 28.