Ertugral warns City to put brakes on excitement

New Cape Town City coach Muhsin Ertugral warned the club not to get too excited about their change of fortunes since his arrival, saying they have had some much-needed luck along the way.

Ertugral took over from Eric Tinkler at the end of last month and has led his side to three wins in his four matches in charge, shooting them up the Betway Premiership standings from 13th to fifth place after Friday’s 2-1 home win over Richards Bay.

“We need to be honest and say luck went our way in many situations. Sometimes it is necessary to have some luck in football, which has a lot of chaotic moments,” said the veteran coach, who marked his 400th game on the bench in South African football in the match at the Athlone Stadium.

The 65-year-old Ertugral also played down the impact of his arrival, which has seen home wins over Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates this month. “We need to put the brakes on all that,” he said.

“We have given the players certain aspects of approach that they can hold on to, but when the whistle goes, they're going to need to play.”

In Friday’s clash at the Athlone Stadium, City went behind early to a goal from Yamela Mbuthuma but came back with a double from French striker Amadou Soukouna to win the game.

“When I came in to take on the team we had a lot of discussions. I found a player like that here with that pedigree that he had before, trying to find somewhere to hold on,” he said of Paris-born Soukouna, who has a teenager was an under-17 international and played in Ligue 1 at Toulouse.

“It's actually heartbreaking because he had one bad performance, then a second bad performance and you wonder ‘what is in him. Can he deliver more? Is it an out and out striker, or is he a hanging striker? Or is it a striker that is active in certain areas?’

"He has that cleverness, that sniffing possibility of being in the right time at the right moment but then he needs help,” said Ertugral.

“We need more time to work on it. It will help Amadou in his way forward. I really must say, it was a great performance from him, not only those goals.”