CAPE TOWN - In football, coaches move on. There’s no looking back. What was is in the past and what’s in the present is the main focus. For Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler, this is the attitude as he prepares his team to take on former club Orlando Pirates in a PSL fixture at the Cape Town
Stadium on Saturday night (8.15pm kick-off).
The two clubs find themselves confronted by contrasting scenarios. Pirates are in a precarious position, both on and off the field,
after their fans stormed the Loftus pitch during a 6-0 thrashing by Mamelodi Sundowns at the weekend.
This was followed by a 2-1
defeat to Wits earlier this week - and things are not looking very rosy at the Soweto side. Meanwhile, over at City, the Cape club Tinkler joined after leaving the Buccaneers, it’s looking very good.
Not only did the new PSL team win the Telkom Knockout Cup last year, but, under the former Bafana Bafana midfielder’s guiding hand, they are also in a lofty league position.
In fact, Tinkler’s fantastic work in the Mother City was recognised this week when he was named as the Coach of the Month for December.
“Obviously, I’m proud of the achievement, of having received the award,” said Tinkler. “A lot of hard work has gone into it But the accolade is for everybody involved with the club, including the rest of my technical team and the players of course.
“To be honest, I thought we were a bit better in November than December. Yes, we won the Telkom (Knockout) in December, but we never finished off the month well. But, nevertheless, congratulations to everybody at the club, the award is for a collective effort from everyone. Now, the challenge is to continue that consistency and winning mentality, and to make it a habit.”
While Pirates may be struggling, Tinkler is paying no attention to it. The fact that he has worked at the club allows him insight into how they respond to adversity - and he’s expecting a big reaction when Pirates arrive at the Cape Town Stadium.
“We simply have to continue the good work against Pirates,” said the City coach. “It will be very tough, that’s for sure. You cannot judge Pirates on their last two games. They have lots of quality in their squad and the players will be determined to prove that they belong there.
“As a team, we will have to be organised and disciplined and respect the opponents.
“At the same time, though, we have to play to our strengths. We aren’t where we are because of luck or fortune, it’s because of hard work and we have to stick to the correct principles against Pirates tomorrow.”
City have started the new year in positive fashion, with wins over Highlands Park and neighbours Ajax Cape Town. The Capetonians are perched second on the PSL standings on 31 points, the same tally as log leaders Wits.
The two at the top are followed by Kaizer Chiefs on 30 points and SuperSport United on 29. Sundowns are next best with 26 points, but the defending champions have quite a few games in hand. One thing’s certain, we’re in for an exciting race for the PSL title.