City’s brains trust is a ‘secret weapon’ for Benni
CAPE Town City assistant-coach Ian Taylor has certainly become a bit of a lucky charm. When City line up for the MTN8 final against SuperSport United at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday night (kick-off 7pm), it will be the fourth time in the last two years that a Cape PSL club has made it through to a major cup final. The common denominator: Taylor.
In 2015, when Taylor was assistant-coach at Ajax Cape Town, the club made it to two cup finals – losing the Nedbank Cup final to Mamelodi Sundowns and winning the MTN8 a few months later.
Last season, with City, he assisted Eric Tinkler when the club won the Telkom Knockout and, now, the astute assistant-coach has been an influential presence behind the scenes as Benni McCarthy steered the side to the MTN8 final.
“I’m extremely grateful for the experience I’ve been able to pick up over the last few years,” said Taylor. “I’ve worked with four good coaches in Muhsin Ertugral and Roger de Sa (at Ajax) and Eric and Benni (at City). They’re all different, but I’ve learnt plenty from all of them. There will be nerves on Saturday, there always is – it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve been in the situation, but it’s my job to just make sure that I help Benni get the best result for the club.”
Now the two head coaches responsible for City’s rapid rise to prominence – McCarthy and his predecessor, SuperSport’s Tinkler – face off in what it likely to be an intriguing, absorbing tactical duel.
Tinkler was the man called on after John Comitis purchased the franchise of Mpumalanga Black Aces to establish City as a Cape PSL club in June last year. The combative former Bafana Bafana midfielder did fantastic work in moulding a squad from the remnants of Aces and the new players brought into the system. City went on to win the Telkom Knockout Cup and finish third on the log standings. Ever ambitious, though, Tinkler quit and signed on to coach SuperSport this season, where, no doubt, he believed he had found a club that better suited his long-term objectives as a coach.
Into the vacancy stepped McCarthy, for his first stint as a head coach. After a stellar career as a player, the charismatic former Bafana striker returned home to steer City’s fortunes – and he’s certainly proven to be up to the task.
If there’s a man who knows both cup final coaches very well, it’s Taylor. He’s had the privilege of working with both Tinkler and McCarthy at the Cape club. So, as McCarthy prepares City for Saturday’s final, he will lean heavily on Taylor and goalkeeper-coach Calvin Marlin for information on how to nullify the Tinkler football philosophy.
“As a coach, Eric is obviously much more experienced than Benni,” said Taylor. “He is a hard working coach and I can assure you that he is extremely ambitious. Under him, SuperSport will go on to win trophies, he will have them organised defensively and he also has an experienced squad.
“I don’t think he will change too much with regard to tactics, it’s just that, at SuperSport, the personnel will be different. ”
For Taylor, there is a great similarity between the two coaches, though he singled out McCarthy’s man-management skills as being a particular asset.
“Benni is in his first cup final as a coach,” said Taylor. “It may be new to him, now that he is in the next phase of his career, ALSO INSIDE ExtraStrong, page 19 but he is a winner. The preparation this week will be critical as both coaches plan in detail to try and counter each other.
“For Benni, it’s great that he has been able to make it to a cup final at such an early stage of his coaching career. What’s it been? Just 10 games as a head coach? It’s another feather in his cap and something he can store in his vast bank of experience. The occasion of the cup final won’t be too big for him – remember that he has been in far bigger games as a player.“Benni’s biggest strength is his player management. The advice he gives the players and the confidence he is able to inspire from them. Even though he may be inexperienced as a coach, he is still very calm; he never gets flustered, and that’s obviously because, as a player, he’s been in such situations before.”
And don’t discount Taylor’s contribution. He’s not an assistant merely responsible for putting out the cones before training.
The former Battswood player is an clever tactician, and coaches rely on his sharp football brain for input and advice. It’s no surprise he’s lining up for his fourth cup final.