The honeymoon is over for Benni
JOHANNESBURG: It is nowhere near the thousand matches Gavin Hunt had suggested Benni McCarthy needed to truly understand what coaching is all about.
But you can bet the Cape Town City coach understands it now alright.
This fourth defeat on the trot has no doubt made all those early wins that had left many declaring McCarthy was set to be just as successful from the bench as he was on it, realise they had spoken way too early.
And McCarthy himself must be wondering just what he has gotten himself into.
At referee Victor Gomes’ final whistle yesterday, McCarthy essentially collapsed against the bar of the bench, his hands deep in his pockets and his eyes fixed on the pitch – the former darling striker of South Africa in disbelief at seeing his team kicked out of the Telkom Knockout.
While it ended 1-0 courtesy of a wonder strike by Talent Chawapiwa, the match was essentially rendered a no-contest immediately after the goal.
Coming into the contest on the back of three successive defeats, McCarthy had spoken of the need to turn things around. And as defending Telkom Knockout champions, City were under immense pressure. But when City conceded as early as they did, McCarthy’s body language told the story of a man at his wits end as he sat back on the chair like a man in his own lounge watching the match on TV knowing he had no influence.
And perhaps he did not, what with his bench being bereft of strikers – the absence of both Judas Moseamedi and Lehlohonolo Majoro meaning the City coach had no one to call on to help get his team back into the game.
Even late in the game when he brought on the veteran Teko Modise, it appeared more a move of desperation than a calculated one. And Modise hardly did anything to stem the tide of Baroka’s dominance.
Kgoloko Thobejane’s team could actually have won the match by a bigger margin had Gift Motupa not left his scoring boots at home. The striker who is on loan from Orlando Pirates missed numerous opportunities as the home side pressed City on the backfoot for most of the match.
From the onset it was clear which team wanted the win more, Baroka taking the game to City and Nzwanele Mahashi threatening as early as the eight minute but shooting tamely at the goalkeeper.
There were opportunities galore for the home team which they wasted. City themselves got the ball into the net on 67 minutes during a goalmouth scramble, but the flag on the far side was already up and the goal did not count.
The honeymoon is clearly over for McCarthy, and he will have to muster every trick in the coaching book that he would have learnt from the many top coaches he worked under during his illustrious playing career to avoid a fifth successive defeat.
In Free State Stars on Wednesday, he will come up against a team also smarting from a Cup defeat and that won’t make it any easier.