Muhsin Ertugral is enjoying a deserved break from the game in Cape Town but will be ready to rush on to the training field should an approach from a Premier Soccer League (PSL) club or even the South African Football Association (Safa) materialise.
“I love South African football,” said the man who quit his job as Orlando Pirates coach in a huff two months ago “And if the right offer came along, of course I’ll be ready to get working.”
Ertugral announced he was resigning from his position at Pirates in a post-match television interview following the Buccaneers’ 6-1 hammering by SuperSport United in an Absa Premiership match at Mbombela Stadium.
He wouldn’t go into detail about what led to his departure: “In every family there are problems but they must be kept behind closed doors. I have no regrets because Pirates is a massive club and it was an honour to have joined them. Of course I am disappointed that it didn’t work out because I had some great ideas and plans that I’d hoped we would work on.”
He is currently sitting on those ideas having turned down a chance to reunite with his former club Bani Yas in the United Arab Emirates.
“I met with them but their situation is not good for me to go back now.
So I am back in South Africa and enjoying the break. But if the call comes, I’ll be ready to get down to work.”
With Safa having said they want a coach with African experience to lead Bafana Bafana following the dismissal of Shakes Mashaba, Ertugral has an outside chance having previously coached Zaire (now DRC) back in the late 90s as well as having won continental honours with Kaizer Chiefs.
Does the hottest seat in the country tickle his fancy?
“Of course it is an honour to coach the national team, any national team. And after my experience with Zaire, I wouldn’t mind returning to the international stage.
"But it is not easy to work with a national squad because you only have the players for a short while and you need to use that time effectively so you can produce results. And that is why it is such a difficult task.”
He did succeed in the task, though, as he joined Zaire in the middle of the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations and leading them to top their group to make it to South Africa in 1996.
“I had a great experience with Zaire and I wouldn’t mind coaching a national team again.”
It is more likely, though, that he will join a PSL club with both Bloemfontein Celtic and Maritzburg United in search of coaches. And given his record in the local league where he has won numerous trophies and made some of the so-called small clubs highly competitive, he is likely to receive the call sooner rather than later.
While the fact that he has repeatedly returned to South Africa after leaving his jobs had to do with the clubs making the calls - Chiefs and Ajax gave him more than one stint while he has also coached Santos, Golden Arrows and Mpumalanga Black Aces - he also loves it in the PSL.
“Unlike Europe, there is passion here. That human angle is always there while in Europe it is all about business, too structured,” said the man who has coached in his native Turkey as well as Germany and Austria.
“I love the emotions that is involved in South African football, everyone is emotional about the game.”
But he is also tickled by the wealth of untapped talent in South Africa.
“There is so much potential and young talent to discover here in South Africa and that really excites me. Where in the world can you find a youngster who makes it into the first team and then becomes the Player of the Year like Aubrey Modiba did? I can’t even count the number of young players I’ve discovered in my time here who’ve gone on to become top players. That’s what drives me, that’s what makes me love working in this country.”
He is jobless at the moment, though, and whether he will be back on the PSL touchlines throwing his trademark tantrums remains to be seen.