JOHANNESBURG – Morgan Gould unwittingly revealed why Eric Tinkler failed at SuperSport United and why Kaitano Tembo is the right guy to get Matsatsantsa a Pitori out of their precarious position.
Tinkler resigned as SuperSport’s coach earlier this month following a string of poor results that saw the club being drawn into the relegation quagmire. Tinkler hinted in his resignation letter, written less than eight months into his tenure, that he left SuperSport because he had lost the dressing room.
He stressed that he believes “we can turn things around but the only way of getting out of our current position is to have a fully unified and committed response from the players and I haven’t been able to get that from them”.
“We’ve got a good coach taking over,” Gould said. “He’s been at the club since forever. He was here when I came into the team the first time and he taught me the stuff I know now. He is still teaching me even today. Why not do big things with someone who has been in the game and the club for such a long time? He understands the culture. He wants to achieve a lot.
For me he is definitely underrated. He can’t work with so many people - from Pitso (Mosimane) to Gavin (Hunt), the late Thomas Madigage, Cavin Johnson, Gordon Igesund and Tinkler - if he wasn’t good enough. He has worked with so many coaches and stayed in the same position yet he has remained humble.”
Gould continued, “If he had (a white skin) he would definitely be arrogant and he would have been given the hot seat (a long time ago). What I like about him is that he doesn’t say 'I'. He says you guys are the bus and I am just the driver. If the bus isn’t in working condition, the driver isn’t going to go anywhere with the bus.
He doesn’t treat anyone like a youngster or a senior player. But there’s definitely a difference in how he addresses the individuals. It goes down to man-management skills. He has a go at me all the time when I am on the pitch and I do the wrong things. I appreciate that. It shows that I am not super human. I make mistakes and he gives it to me the same way he would give it to a youngster.”
Tembo, who will be celebrating 20 years at SuperSport next year, has a mammoth task of taking Matsatsantsa from the bottom half of the log to the top eight. Tonight though he will lead the Tshwane giants against Petro de Luanda at Lucas Moripe Stadium in the second leg of the CAF Confederation Cup’s first round.
The first leg match of this tie played in Luanda ended in a goalless draw. Despite the club’s drama, this has been a somewhat good season for the blue army. They won the MTN8 and for the first time in the club’s history they reached the final of the Confederation Cup.
“We are quick to forget the positives,” Gould said. “We always remember the negatives. If I ask you what you remember about Mike Tyson, you’re likely to tell me about him biting Evander Holyfield’s ear. But all along he has been banging people’s heads off their shoulders to become one of the greatest world champions in the history of boxing. One bad thing overshadows everything.
We are willing to take the back seat right now and just fight our way back. We will be back to our best in the future. We will definitely work our way up.”