Flames interim coach Tom Saintfiet’s two- month tenure has ended with the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) set to decide on a permanent coach. FAM president Walter Nyamilandu confirmed to supersport.com that Saintfiet, his assistants Eddington Ng’onamo and Patrick Mabedi’s flirtations with the Flames ended after the 2-0 defeat in Calabar on Saturday. “It is our expectation that Tom will report back after the match against Nigeria before returning to his home in Belgium as per contract agreement. This will mean that he will have fulfilled his assignment which was to lead Malawi in its last world cup qualifier match against Nigeria,” Nyamilandu said. “We will, thereafter, enter into discussions with the Ministry of Sports and Malawi National Council of Sports on the permanent recruitment of a national coach of the Flames. This will obviously depend on availability of funds bearing in mind that funding for the Flames has been exhausted. Suffice to say that the position of the national coach and his assistants will be vacant.” The Flames return today Monday after the defeat in Calabar on Saturday ended the World Cup qualification dream. Meanwhile, the loss has been greeted by an angry reaction in Malawi with analysts and fans on social networks questioning why the Belgian was brought in the first place. Football observer Elia Phiri called on FAM to dissolve the whole team and start afresh while some think the blame is not on the coaches but the association for not investing in the team. Posting on his facebook wall, Mighty Wanderers’ football club general secretary David Kanyenda questioned Saintfiet’s hiring and his motive of dropping captain Joseph Kamwendo. But Nyamilandu hailed Saintfiet, saying he had turned around the Flames tactically within a short period of time. Malawi had before Saturday’s game not lost in Group F.