Vasili Manousakis awaits decision on his Richards Bay future

The Natal Rich Boyz started the season like a house on fire, winning eight, drawing seven, and losing just three of their opening 18 matches since gaining promotion from the second tier last season, as they flirted with a top-three spot.

However, the wheels came off in February when they went on a streak of eight losses on the trot, which saw them free-falling down the DStv Premiership table.

Manousakis, who enjoyed considerable success as Benni McCarthy's assistant at Cape Town City and AmaZulu, has told SABC Sport he will now await the verdict from Biyela on whether he stays or moves on after they survived the drop on the final day of the season.

"My contract ends at the end of June. There's been no discussion about anything else going forward. The feeling from the management that we deal with today is very positive. Everyone started talking about preseason and players you know and the way forward," he said.

"At this point, it's not something that's top of our mind. I can't find it in me to approach him and say 'Chairman it's been an up and down season, it's been okay, what are you thinking going forward?'"

Biyela boldly kept faith in his technical team, despite the turbulence and sharp downward trajectory of the team, when he reshuffled things by appointing Manousakis as sole head coach in March – a decision the coach still finds incredible.

"I think if I'm brutally honest as most know me, I can't speak for the other coaches but certainly I shouldn't be around after the record we've had in the second half of the season. I think even as co-coaches we lost five league games in a row, six if you count the Nedbank Cup against Sundowns. The last of those six was a 4-0 drubbing away to Galaxy [TS Galaxy]," the coach explained.

At the moment of his 'promotion' to sole head coach, Manousakis anxiously awaited the chop but the chairman surprised him with his show of confidence.

"He called me into the office and of course, I expect one thing and I was saying to myself, where's that bullet gonna hit me? He surprised me, he said 'Coach, you don't have a choice here. We are making some changes and you are gonna become the head coach until the end of the season. Nothing else around you will change, no other staff are leaving. We cannot get more players obviously at this point, it's now the beginning of April' and you know that surprised me."