Cape Town City have announced the replacement for fired head coach Jan Olde Riekerink – former Bafana Bafana player Eric Tinkler returns for a second spell with the Citizens.

City are yet to confirm any of Tinkler’s contractual details, or who his technical team will be, but did release a simple statement on Twitter, which said that ‘Tinkler is home’.

Along with that was a video clip in which the incoming coach said:

“This has always been one of my favourite stadiums. I was part of the beginnings of the club, its first season. And it ended up being a fantastic season and that will always stay in my memory for a very long time. And now obviously, the task has to be greater.”

In the 2016/ 17 campaign, what was City’s first season in existence since buying out Mpumalanga Black Aces’ PSL franchise, Tinkler guided them to the Telkom Knockout title.

After Olde Riekerink had initially been placed on suspension, he officially parted ways with the Mother City club last week. In the interim, Diogo Peral, a member of the technical team, stepped up to take charge of the team.

City have battled for consistency this season under Riekerink, and are currently seventh on the table with nine wins, 11 draws and eight defeats from 28 games.

That means Tinkler will have just two matches to oversee before the end of the season and will then have a full pre-season to work with the team.

The 50-year-old will likely be charged up and ready to go, having been out of the game since parting ways with Maritzburg United six months ago.

Having joined Maritzburg after a short spell with Chippa United, the former Bafana Bafana midfielder enhanced his reputation by helping the KwaZulu-Natal side overcome a disastrous start to the 2019/ 20 season and he eventually guided them to safety via the promotion-relegation play-offs.

Prior to Chippa United, Tinkler had been at SuperSport United, with whom he claimed the MTN8 trophy in 2017.

The 50-year-old Tinkler also previously coached at Orlando Pirates and took the Sea Robbers to the final of the Caf Confederation Cup in 2015.