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Maritzburg United head coach Eric Tinkler has reflected on his 11 months at the club with pride as he dusted himself off from a Telkom Knockout final defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.
The 49-year-old paid tribute to his defeated troops, while he also called for “more respect” for local coaches.
“I am very proud of the squad that we have. Six months ago, we were sitting at the bottom of the log, playing in the promotional play-offs trying to avoid relegation. Six months later we are playing in the Telkom final,” said Tinkler, who took over the reins at the Team of Choice in the second half of last season when they were bottom of the Absa Premiership table after 18 games.
He admitted that it was difficult to stomach a third defeat in a cup final appearance as head coach, having also previously lost in the CAF Confederation cup with former clubs Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United.
“I want to win trophies, that’s why I love being a coach,” said Tinkler.
However, in his short coaching career, the former Bafana Bafana midfielder guided Cape Town City to the 2016 Telkom Knockout title and also steered SuperSport United to the MTN8 triumph a year later.
Tinkler said Saturday’s Telkom Knockout final at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, which pitted two benches of all-South African coaches and their assistants, sent a positive message to the local coaching fraternity.
Uruguayan Mauricio Affonso scored twice in the second half to seal the deal in a remarkable comeback by Sundowns after Judas Moseamedi had given Maritzburg a half-time lead.
“It was a good spectacle – good football and I think players played their part.
“So I hope all those coaches out there – plenty of them… about 54 million – see what effort we put in and that is not easy. A lot of people don’t understand how difficult this job truly is. I also think there isn’t enough respect while we are doing this job. I think it’s about time people started showing us a little bit more respect,” said Tinkler, who is assisted by Vincent Kobola, while his counterpart Mosimane’s lieutenant is Manqoba Mngqithi.
Tinkler said he wpuld take the positives from the defeat as Maritzburg prepare to continue with their impressive run in the Premiership.
“I’ve got to get these boys fired up again for another game in six days against Kaizer Chiefs.
Our league position [number nine] is obviously also important, we want to try and finish on a positive note. So I have to try and be a psychologist to a degree, to try and motivate myself and get the players motivated as well. They’ll get a few days off to reflect.”
Maritzburg’s meeting with log leaders Chiefs at the Harry Gwala Stadium will be the second time the two sides had squared-off since the KwaZulu-Natal team eliminated Amakhosi from the Telkom Knockout semifinals last month.
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