With the bright start that Bidvest Wits have made this season, winning their first three games and putting one foot in the MTN8 final, Gavin Hunt is making sure that this success doesn’t get to his players’ heads.
The Wits coach said that he was only ‘happy with the result not the performance’ when he spoke about their 3-0 win over Cape Town City at Bidvest Stadium on Saturday.
That match ceased as a contest in the first half with the Clever Boys firmly in control.
Hunt went on to say that Gabadinho Mhango was poor, despite him being the chief architect in the demolition of City. The Malawian forward created the first goal and scored the third.
“He has done okay,” Hunt said.
“I don’t think that he was the Man of the Match. He was flat as a pancake in the two days (leading up to the match). He didn’t train well (in his return from Blantyre where Malawi played Swaziland in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers). He looked poor (on Saturday).
“He was short of a yard. He’ll get better ... hopefully.”
It was typically Hunt, returning his players back to earth so that they don’t get too excited.
The club’s first three matches were ‘easy’, coming up against the Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates along with City where a place in the MTN8 final was up for grabs. The stakes were high and Wits delivered.
Now the hard part starts.
They have to take on Polokwane City tomorrow at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, followed by a trip to Cape Town for the second leg of their MTN8 tie with City. The club’s biggest problem last season was inconsistency, losing matches that they shouldn’t.
They will make those two trips without goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs who was sent off against City for punching an opponent. Josephs ran half the pitch to add fuel in an already fiery situation where Wits players felt hard done by when Judas Moseamedi escaped with only a yellow card for shoving Mhango into the advertising boards after the ball was already out.
“That’s disappointing,” Hunt said. “It’s 3-0, with just over 10 minutes to go and there was no danger. Running all that way. You can’t lift your hand. The initial incident was worse ... (But) if Josephs did lift his hand, he will certainly get fined. There is no doubt about that.”
Replacing Josephs with Darren Keet shows the quality the Clever Boys have at their disposal. The club also boasts one of the most potent attacks that has quickly clicked. Mhango and the lanky Eleazer Rodgers complement each well.
“Rodgers is an experienced player while I am still young, I learn a lot from him,” said the 23-year-old Mhango. “The understanding that we have helps us do well.”
That understanding has Mhango believing that he can win his second title in his four-year-old professional career. He won the Presidential Cup in his native Malawi with Big Bullets before he joined Bloemfontein Celtic. But he left Phunya Sele Sele on a sour note when he signed a pre-contract with Wits in January. Celtic boss Max Tshabalala kicked Mhango out of the club, only for Golden Arrows to rescue him from six months of inactivity by signing him on a short-term deal.
The Star