Eric Tinkler has signed a contract extension with Maritzburg United, the club announced on Wednesday.
The Team of Choice coach was on a four-month deal with a mandate of saving the club from relegation this past season, which he excellently did via the play-offs.
His reward is a new two-year deal, with the option of a third year renewal. Speaking two weeks ago, Maritzburg chairman Farook Kadodia said that a deal was imminent, although there had been reports in the interim linking the 48-year-old with a few other clubs.
Tinkler arrived at the club at a time when they were written off in their plight to beat relegation.
But he fought through the hard times and rescued Maritzburg from, at one point being seven points off safety, to survive via the play-offs.
In the new term, he will be without two of his star players from the last four months, Fortune Makaringe and Siphesihle Ndlovu, who are close to joining Orlando Pirates.
It means the job will be tougher, but Kadodia says the club should try and build on what they miraculously achieved under pressure at the end of the season.
Maritzburg eventually went on to finish second bottom on the table, outsmarting Free State Stars literally at the post for a play-off spot, where they went on to survive by winning all four games against fellow KwaZulu-Natal club Royal Eagles and Tshakhuma Tsha Madzhivhandila.
Kadodia says that matching the heights of the past four months will be Tinkler’s biggest challenge, but he has backed the former Orlando Pirates, SuperSport United and Cape Town City coach to succeed. – Report by Thahir Asmal
