Cape Town – The Cape Town City duo of coach Eric Tinkler and captain Lebogang Manyama on Monday afternoon scored individual accolades to mark the club’s remarkable form in the Absa Premiership this season.
Tinkler scooped up the Coach of the Month for December, while Manyama was the recipient of the Player of the Month for October, November and December.
City are currently top of the Premier League table with 31 points from 17 matches and have been leading the pack pretty much since the beginning of the season.
Tinkler said they were building from the previous season – the club having undergone a change in ownership when businessman John Comitis purchased the Mpumalanga Black Aces franchise and relocated the side to the Mother City.
The club has already picked up silverware this season following their triumph over SuperSport United in the final of the Telkom Knockout on December 10 in Polokwane.
Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler Photo: Chris Ricco/BackpagePix “Our target was the top eight and finishing on 45 points at the end of the season, which would mean we have equaled the same number of points as Aces,” said Tinkler.“We have obviously built on what they achieved last season (Aces finished in fourth place above Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates) even though we only had 14 players from that side and only five were regulars.”
Meanwhile, SuperSport coach Stuart Baxter was also named Coach of the Month for October and November, but was not present to accept his award. The Tshwane-based side were away in Madagascar on CAF Confederation Cup duty at the weekend.
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