Gould on the Tinkler demise, and why Tembo’s the real deal
MORGAN GOULD unwittingly revealed why Eric Tinkler failed at SuperSport United and why Kaitano Tembo is the right man to take Matsatsantsa a Pitori out of their precarious position.
Tinkler resigned as SuperSport’s coach earlier this month following a string of poor results that saw the club being drawn into the relegation quagmire. Tinkler hinted in his resignation letter, written less than eight months into his tenure, that he left SuperSport because he had lost the dressing room and stressed that he believes “we can turn things around but the only way of getting out of our current position is to have a fully unified and committed response from the players and I haven’t been able to get that from them.”
“We’ve got a good coach taking over,” Gould said. “He’s been at the club since forever. He is still teaching me even today. Why not do big things with someone who has been in the game and the club for such a long time? For me he is definitely underrated.”
Gould continued: “What I like about him is that he doesn’t say “I”. He says you guys are the bus and I am just the driver. If the bus isn’t in working condition, the driver isn’t going to go anywhere with the bus. He doesn’t treat anyone like a youngster or a senior player. But there’s definitely a difference in how he addresses the individuals. It goes down to man-management skills. He has a go at me all the time when I am on the pitch and I do the wrong things. I appreciate that. It shows that I am not super human.”
Tonight Tembo will lead the Tshwane giants against Petro de Luanda at Lucas Moripe Stadium in the second leg of the Caf Confederation Cup first round. SuperSport played to a goalless draw in the first leg in Angola. Despite the club’s drama around the coach, this season they won the MTN8 and for the first time in their history they reached the final of the Confederation Cup.
“We are quick to forget the positives,” Gould said. “If I ask you what do you remember about Mike Tyson, you’re likely to tell me about him biting Evander Holyfield’s ear. But all along he was banging people’s heads off their shoulders to become one of the greatest world champions in boxing. One bad thing overshadows everything. We are willing to take the back seat right now and just fight our way back. We will be back to our best in the future.”