Swallows Chairman David Mogashoa has dismissed suggestions that without head coach Dylan Kerr the club would have been resigned to relegation.
Kerr steered the Dube Birds through the DStv Premiership relegation/promotion play-offs.
He had taken over from the dismissed Brandon Truter in November with the club struggling for form at the wrong end of the table.
Mogashoa has downplayed Kerr’s role in the club retaining their top-flight status.
He told SABC Sport: “I hear a lot of people are saying the coach helped save the club – it’s not like we brought the coach here when we had three or five games left.
“The coach had 18 games. Now if someone had 18 games and the other had five, and the one with five survives relegation, who saved the club? It’s the one with five games.
“So, the coach had 18 games. With 18 games, you can’t say a person saved the club. The club actually almost got relegated, and with 18 games we expected to finish around maybe eighth or 10th, but not to be fighting relegation.”