JOHANNESBURG – Eric Tinkler described the coaching carnage that took place on Monday last week as “absurd.”
Both AmaZulu and Chippa United fired their coaches, Cavin Johnson and Clinton Larsen, respectively, on Monday.
Black Leopards joined along in sacking Lionel Soccoia, who was appointed in June this year. Tinkler is staring at the guillotine after Maritzburg United’s bad start. The Team of Choice has collected just two points from five matches.
“We are always worried about our future,” Tinkler said. “In South Africa, you have to worry about your future. That’s the nature of the game. I think it’s become absurd (the firing of coaches). I can’t say much because now I will get into trouble if I say something.”
Tinkler made a good impression last season. He rescued the Team of Choice, when they looked certain to be relegated. The former Bafana Bafana hard-man led the team to a 15th place finish.
They retained their Premier Division status, with a commanding display in the play-offs. But that’s ancient in football terms. That glory has been replaced by this season’s worries. The last-minute 2-1 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday, at Lucas Moripe Stadium, compounded Maritzburg’s woes.
“We’ve got to remember that we brought in 12 new players,” Tinkler said.
“That’s a lot of new faces to bring in. Four of those are foreign players, who have never played in the PSL before. If I start throwing all of them in at once, it becomes very difficult. They’ve still got to adapt to the pace of our game.
We even have players like Keagan Buchanan, who was out for a long time. Thami Sangweni has been out for a long time. Adapting to the speed of our game and getting back into that is very difficult.”
Tinkler continued: “How we introduce those players is important. It probably was a bit early to introduce Clive (Augusto) against Sundowns, it was a big game for me to throw him in upfront. Maybe that’s the mistake I made. I probably should have started with (Judas) Moseamedi, to relieve that pressure.
But it’s learning, he will only get better. I am very happy with the squad and I believe that we should be way further up than we are, we just need that first win. A point against Sundowns would have been a huge morale booster.”
Eric Tinkler himself is staring at the guillotine after Maritzburg United’s bad start to the season. Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
Tinkler is confident that his team will bounce back from their bad start. On Friday they will host Chippa United looking to get their first win of the season. Tinkler once coached the Chilli Boys but the trigger-happy Chippa Mpengesi showed him the door before he could stay some time in Port Elizabeth. But how will he achieve that?
“Gone are the days of my time, where you used to sit and swear, shout and scream. I don’t think that the footballers of today can handle that.
We just have to put our arms around them and keep pushing them because are they capable of producing a lot more.”