Mazembe TP: Lamine Ndiaye, the reasons for departing

Episode 2 of the story between TP Mazembe and Lamine Ndiaye is now over. The Franco-Senegalese technician decided to leave by mutual agreement with the club’s management; this was announced by the general secretary of the Corbeaux, Frédéric Kitengie.

 ''We have received the announcement of the departure of coach Mamadou Lamine Ndiaye from the head of the technical staff of TP Mazembe. He asked the problem to the Committee and after reviewing the situation, by mutual agreement, the Committee and the coach agreed on this separation which is only a goodbye for us. He had already been here and brought us to the summit of world football and he can always come back," 

he said.
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‎Lamine Ndiaye arrived at the head of the technical staff of TP Mazembe in April 2023 for his second visit to the club after a first arrival in 2010, notably with an African championship title won and a World Club Cup final lost against Inter Milan (3-0) the same year, thus achieving the best performance of an African club at the time at the World Cup.

A second passage  without sparkle
‎‎If the first passage of Mamadou Lamine Ndiaye at TP Mazembe was marked by very remarkable results, notably two DRC championship titles (2011 and 2012), an African championship title (2010) and a Club World Cup final (2010), it was not the case for his second spell.

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‎ Indeed, in 2 years and 9 months spent at Mazembe between April 2023 and January 2026, Lamine Ndiaye won a DRC championship title (in 2024) and only played in the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League. The most negative point of his second visit was TP Mazembe’s non-qualification for the 2025-2026 CAF Interclub Cups, a first for the black and white club of Lubumbashi in more than two decades.


‎‎For sports analyst Dieudonné Batotela, Lamine Ndiaye did not allow Mazembe to progress between 2023 and 2026.

 “Lamine Ndiaye did not allow the TP Mazembe to get better than before during his second pass, he rather pushed it in. Lamine Ndiaye is struggling to build a team capable of winning. He is a coach who needs to find a team that is already working very well to continue the work.  It was already the case in 2010 when he inherited a team already well built by Diego Garzito and he went until the final of the World Cup. This time he had found players like Joël Beya, Kévin Mondeko or Glody Likonza with whom he played the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League. When all these players left, he struggled,"

 he said.

An inevitable end?
‎‎The divorce between Lamine Ndiaye and TP Mazembe could have been imagined a few months ago when the results were not good for Mazembe at the start of the season in the national championship. The Franco-Senegalese technician had also received projectiles from the supporters after a draw (0-0) against the promoted, AS New Soger. 

The fans had then apologized and the good results had started to rain again until taking first place in group A of the championship, a position that the club kept until the departure of the 69-year-old technician. To replace him, TP Mazembe called on Slimane Raho who is also making his return to the club after being assistant to Franck Dumas between 2021 and 2022.