Cape Town – “WHAT doesn’t kill you makes you stronger ...” It’s an old saying, used mostly by grandmothers to get their grandchildren to drink whatever concoction they came up with to counteract the effects of whatever is wrong with you.
The Chelsea team doctor probably uttered the same words to defender Branislav Ivanovic when he gave him a tetanus injection to try and counteract the venom from Luis Suarez’s bite on his arm.
The Serb probably tried to tell the doctor he already crossed himself after the bite, whereafter I imagine the doc said: “You don’t know where his mouth has been ...”
Those words probably also rang out in the changerooms of Barcelona Real Madrid this week after being beaten to a pulp by Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund respectively.
In the hotel also, as German cooking is not quite as exotic as Spanish dishes and eating bratwurst after a hammering can’t be the most appetising prospect in the world, can it? I reckon that’s why they serve most food with those big 2-litre draft beers – by the time you are finished with the draft, you’ll be so drunk, you’ll eat anything.
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” didn’t ring out at Old Trafford on Monday night, though. Queen’s “We are the Champions” and chants of “Olé, Olé, Olé!” filtered all the way through the red half of Manchester when United won their 20th English League title.
However, those seven words might at some time during the previous two days have gone through the minds of Ajax Cape Town’s directors when they decided to gamble on Muhsin Ertugral to help keep them in the PSL.
And from the looks of it, it could just be the best decision they have taken as a collective this season, and one that might even help to stabilise the club and the boardroom.
Ertugral is a fighter, a no-nonsense man who is going to pull out all the stops to try and save the club from relegation. But he is also street-smart and tactically sound. The man he replaced, Jan Versleijen, maybe lacked that trait, and he was shown up in the last few matches when he was outsmarted by the opposition team. He seemed to freeze on the touchline in the last two matches against Black Leopards and Wits.
Ertugral is not going to freeze when the pressure is on, and he has the guts to try something, even in the position Ajax find themselves in. In times like these, you need soldiers, and a sergeant major like Ertugral to get those soldiers to run through walls.
The timing of his appointment isn’t great, as the Turk is expected to work a miracle to help Ajax stay up. But there’s no doubt that he has the ability to do it. And it seems like it has taken the fear of relegation for the Ajax directors to finally put their own agendas aside and do what’s best for the team. As my grandmother used to say, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.
TWEETS OF THE WEEK
@Bradzc (Bradley Carnell): Borussia Dortmund have a lower wage budget than Queens Park Rangers. Chris Samba earns more than any Dortmund player. Food 4 thought.......
@Joey7Barton: Barca have had this coming for months. An average AC Milan side rolled them over, PSG went undefeated in 2 games against them.
@carlosdn21 (Carlos das Neves): Bayern looking rock solid. Chippa should be watching carefully, Ajax also vulnerable from set pieces, any high balls played into the box.
@Pschmeichel1 (Peter Schmeichel): Sir Alex, I salute you
WHO TO FOLLOW
@vancole9: Follow the former Manchester United striker Andy Cole and celebrate the team’s 20th league title.
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