Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler will take his team into the derby against Cape Town Spurs on Saturday, when football in the city returns to the Cape Town Stadium, hoping for success on the newly-laid pitch at the World Cup venue.
He spoke on Wednesday about the game and other issues at the club.
Q: This looks to have been a tough start to the season for you, unlike the previous seasons. What are some of the challenges for your team to overcome to kind of really get going?
A “Actually you are wrong when you say previous seasons, because leading up to our game against TS Galaxy, we had the same amount of points, and in the season before that, we actually had a point less after six matches. So we've had a poor start to the season for the last three seasons! And obviously that has been a concern for us as a technical team.
But in both previous seasons, we managed to turn things around, and funnily enough, that happened as soon as that transfer window closed, because then I think everybody seems to be focused on knowing exactly where they are and where they belong. So we tend to start poorly, but hopefully now that everybody is raring to go, and it's a massive derby game, we want to keep those bragging rights. We have a good record against Ajax before they became Cape Town Spurs and obviously now we want to start climbing that league table as soon as possible.”
Q: You mentioned the technical team, you guys have drafted in former captain Lebogang Manyama to come and join you. Just what does he bring to the team?
A: “Yeah, Lebo has joined us at a very good time. The timing, I think, was superb from the chairman. But, you know, we had Lebo here, training with us almost a season ago. And I had already raised that question with the chairman, because we kind of knew the extent of his injury. And I spoke to the chairman about the possibility of roping him in, because of his leadership qualities, what he could bring to the squad, and I think he's a fantastic addition to the team. He's played in those derbies, so he knows exactly what it takes and what it means. And he's obviously conveying that message to some of the newer players. I think the players are tired of hearing stories of what I've done 30 years ago! Now there is a younger and fresher face, somebody that they know very, very well, and someone that they respect as a footballer. And Lebo still thinks like a footballer, I think very differently now to the beginning of my coaching career. So, you know, I think that's the key factor.”
Q: What do you think about Saturday’s derby against Spurs?
A: “It's a massive game in itself, other than being a derby, and so it's going to be a fight because there's a massive rivalry between the two clubs, but also the fact that both clubs haven't started the season as well as they would like to. The points matter enormous going forward, and then three days later, we have another match (against Kaizer Chiefs away). And we’ll want to make sure that we come out of this game with a few points so that we go with that confidence and belief into the next match.”