Free State Stars coach Luc Eymael says he is not fazed after being snubbed for the PSL Coach of the Years award, despite his success at Ea Lla Koto this season.
The 58-year-old guided Ea Lla Koto to a club record sixth place in the Absa Premiership while leading them to their first piece of silverware in 24-years after beating Maritzburg United 1-0 in the Nedbank Cup final at Cape Town Stadium over the weekend.
Despite his success at Stars the Belgian coach failed to make the cut for the Coach of the Year award. Maritzburg United coach Fadlu Davids and Milutin Sredojevic of Orland Pirates were nominated alongside side Mosimane instead.
Eymael believes that Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane should win the prestigious PSL Coach of the Year award after guiding the Brazilians to a record eight league title this season.
“I have received a lot of questions about that,” Eymael tells KickOff.com.
“You know for me it doesn’t matter because my work is talking for me, if the PSL continues to ignore me that’s their problem. Secondly, I think Pitso will deserve to receive the award of the coach of the year because he won the PSL. In all the countries it’s the coach who won the league who gets the trophy. I think it’s completely normal. For the rest, you know Antonio Conte won the [FA] Cup on Saturday, also he has not been nominated for the coach of the season, so it’s normal. It’s Pep Guardiola who received the coach of the season in England and I think it’s completely normal.
“But now if the PSL wants to do another thing and create a trophy for the coach who improved the most a team, that will be another problem. But you know to be nominated and not get the trophy, it’s the same thing for me. Like I said, the work is talking for me … and yeah we can talk a lot on that but for me the guy who deserves it is Pitso Mosimane because he won the league. Then for me all the rest is just talking. But now if the PSL wants to create another award for the coach who improved the most a team, that is another thing. But for the coach of the year, it has to be Pitso.
“You know already I have never been nominated coach of the month. I think I deserved it one time or two times but it’s like that, what can you do? If some people who are there don’t appreciate my work, it’s their problem. I let them live their soul [sic] and I hope for them it will be okay, not a problem for the rest.
“But like I say again and again, but the most important thing for me is what I succeed to do with my players, what I can succeed [sic], and how happy are the fans. How happy are the people who are working with me, it’s only that,” he concluded.