ED’S LETTER
Cape Town City are a crazy club, owned by a mad hat, and they’ve hired a head coach even madder than everyone else at Greenpoint. John Comitis is a risk-taker, a gambler, a man who would not leave a betting outlet before he’s put a wager and his watch and, possibly his wife, up as collateral. Benni McCarthy is a kamikaze pilot and flies straight into the face of danger. Both men are incredibly gifted at going against the grain and they have teamed up to create what could possibly be the most exciting merger, since, well, the days of Seven Stars and Cape Town Spurs. The Premier Soccer League – which has for years been held at gunpoint by mega clubs Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns – needs the shakeup Comitis gave it when he bought Mpumalanga Black Aces to form the Citizens. But what it’s needed, more than an addict needs their next fix, is a character like Benni. The players on the pitch don’t have the superstar dust that Benni oozed during his playing days.
The league, in as much as Lebogang
Manyama (see page 12) has done his bit to light a fire in the belly, is desperately short of people who occupy newspaper columns and headline space. I once wrote that nobody, in the history of all sport, has ever bought a ticket to the stadium to see a coach – not Jose Mourinho, not sir Alex Ferguson, not Arsene Wenger nor even Pep Guardiola. People buy tickets to see other people play. But Benni McCarthy might damn near be the one guy people will turn out for, just to see whether he will command the touchline like he commanded the “18-area” during a career that spanned from 1995 to 2013 (see page 26). He’s loud, abrasive and in your face. I pity the fourth official who has to incur his wrath should City get a decision that displeases him. He is showbiz, as showbiz as money can buy in this country. People are always going to complain – that he’s inexperienced in spite of his Uefa A License coaching badge. You’re never going to please everyone. You learn that quickly in football. Even Zinedine Zidane had detractors when he took over Real Madrid. But think about how unpalatable it would be if Comitis followed the quotidian, nauseating trend of clubs recycling coaches in this country. Imagine if Ernst Middendorp took over The Citizens … how many of you would even have clicked on the KickOff.com website to check the announcement? What about Roger de Sa? Would people have been happy to see him dart from South African coast-to-coast collecting mid-table finish after mid-table finish?
The awesome thing is that neither Comitis
nor Benni are in this business to be liked. The passionate marriage could either end in fisticuffs or with one slashing the other one’s tyres or even in a blaze of trophy-winning glory – I honestly do not care. The league needs as much excitement as it can get at the moment. This is the entertainment industry and the most entertainment I received this season was in the thrill-a-minute match involving Amakhosi and City, which ended 3-2 to the Capetonians. During that April 25 game, you honestly could not say who was going to take it. Aubrey Ngoma opened the scoring, Siphiwe Tshabalala equalised, Manyama put City in the lead before Joseph Molangoane drew Chiefs level. With nails completely sawed off and bums squeaking at the edge, Judas (of course) Moseamedi scored the winner in added time. The last time I was that entertained was during the 2011/12 season when Benni scored twice in a 3-2 for Pirates over hot rivals Chiefs at Soccer City. You don’t get spectacular matches like that anymore. I’m jealous of the 87 000 fans that were there that day, much like I’m jealous of those that will get to see coach Benni in action weekly at Cape Town Stadium in the coming season. He can’t guarantee success, but strap on your seat belts folks, we are in for an adrenalin pumpingp pg ride.