The Betway Premiership Coach of the Season award is set to be tightly contested, with Jose Riveiro having a strong case to win the award for the first time.
As is normally the case, a coach that eventually wins the league title, in most cases, is the one that is preferred or has been preferred over the years.
However, after Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso took over almost midway into the campaign, even if Masandawana go on to win their eighth title in a row, Pirates coach Riveiro would have made a big statement to win the award.
Going back to the last ten years, nine out of the last ten seasons, the Coach of the Year award has gone to the mentor that guided his team to the league crown.
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There was once a dominance of former Brazilians coach Pitso Mosimane, who won the award for three seasons in a row, from 2018 to 2020.
In all the five league titles that Mosimane won at Sundowns, he was eventually named the Coach of the Year in the PSL awards.
Former Masandawana coach Rulani Mokwena also won the best coach of the season for two consecutive seasons, in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 campaigns.
In fact, Mokwena walked away with the award three seasons in a row after, after he also received the honour as a co-coach with Manqoba Mngqithi in the 2021/22 term.
The only upset at least in the previous decade in the coach of the season winner was in the 2020/21 campaign, where former AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy was bestowed with the honour, after he guided Usuthu to a second-place finish and qualification for the CAF Champions League for the first time in the club's history.
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It was no surprise when Gavin Hunt was named coach of the season in the 2016/17 campaign for the defunct Bidvest Wits, after he guided them to their first title in their 96-year history.
Riveiro's biggest competition for the Coach of the Season award this term will be Cardoso, but would the Portuguese coach deserve the award, even if Sundowns win the title since he joined midway?
Mokwena was honoured with the award in 2023 after he was appointed head coach with the league already underway, although it was in the early stages, following Masandawana's elimination in the MTN8 semi-finals.
