Heat is on for crabby Hunt

Gavin Hunt coach of Bidvest Wits during the Absa Premiership match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Bidvest Wits on 22 August 2015 at Lucas Moripe Stadium Pic Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix

Gavin Hunt coach of Bidvest Wits during the Absa Premiership match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Bidvest Wits on 22 August 2015 at Lucas Moripe Stadium Pic Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix

Published Feb 11, 2016

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Johannesburg - Gavin Hunt’s sore loser complex was again in full force on Tuesday night following a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Kaizer Chiefs in what was billed an Absa Premiership eliminator.

It is the Bidvest Wits coach’s post-match interview with a handful of reporters at the university grounds in Braamfontein on the night that has - without a doubt - turned Bidvest Stadium into a venue to loathe.

A lot of us sympathised with the Clever Boys - and the frustration felt by Hunt - for failing to clinch maximum points as the league race hots up, especially in a game they had no business losing and where referee Victor Gomes should have awarded a penalty seconds before Chiefs scored what turned out to be the winning goal.

However, the backlash from the coach and his own back room staff simply did not warrant the kind of behaviour dished out to the gathered hacks long after the final whistle.

“I’ve been in football longer than all of you put together, so I know the game,” said Hunt as he interrupted a journalist who was eager to fire the first post-match question.

The rest of his responses were top drawer stuff. Interpret this however you see fit, but we feel it is time the coach learned how to deal with his emotions, more so when he’s lost a match.Even more exasperating is the fact that Bidvest Stadium seems to no longer be a venue where nice guys hang out after reporters were told by team manager, Roy Limongelli: “You guys only come here when we play Chiefs.”

Below are Hunt’s answers to some of the questions asked by a group of journalists after the match:

Journalist:“It must be disappointing…

Hunt:“(Cuts in), I have been involved in football longer than all of you put together, so I know the game.”

Journalist:“Do you think something needs to be done about the poor officiating?”

Hunt:“We’ve got the best officials in the world.”

Journalist:“Away from the sarcasm coach, what did you make of the officiating tonight?”

Hunt:“Very good. You should have been there in the 80s, my friend.”

Journalist:“If you look at the title race, what does a result like this mean for your team?”

Hunt:“Kaizer Chiefs should win the league. In my 35 years in football I have never seen a team (Wits) dominate them (Chiefs) like that. Maybe in 1981 at Orlando when I played. But you guys won’t remember that.”

Journalist:“Why is it that when you win you are jolly, but you give us short answers when you lose?”

Hunt:“What do you want to know? We passed the ball, created so many opportunities, we were totally dominant, we should have scored, but we didn’t and lost the game. Are you happy with that?”

Journalists: No.

Hunt:“Ok, what else? I thought our zonal play wasn’t very good. I thought our distances weren’t very good. I thought our wing play and combination could have been a bit better at times. What’s the other word they use… our counter-attack and transition, we didn’t need to do that because we played in their own half the whole time.”

Journalist: What did you make of Paul (Johnstone, Wits assistant coach) being sent to the stands? Hunt: “Paul’s sending off had nothing to do with the game at all.”

The Star

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