Cup victory will boost morale of Hunt’s men

Congratulations to Gavin Hunt and Bidvest Wits for winning the Telkom Knockout – one cup that had eluded Hunt in his career. Wits needed to win this trophy following their poor start in the Absa Premiership.

They needed to get that psychological boost which I believe will be key in improving their poor form in the league.

A cup victory always comes as a motivation for every team regardless of how they are doing in the league. The mood in the camp is good and their morale is high. They needed that feeling as they are the defending champions.

The coach needs to use this opportunity to make sure he changes the mindset of the players and redirect their focus to the league following this triumph.

Seeing how The Students will use this psychological booster to bounce back in the league will be equally as exciting to see how business will be conducted at the opposite end of the table as leaders Baroka FC face Mamelodi Sundowns.

Psychologically, it might affect Sundowns that they were in a similar position last season, where they had games in hand but failed to make use of those games which ended up costing them the league.

In that, it is important for Masandawana to have learnt from that experience and make sure they don’t make the same mistakes. I trust they have learnt now that games in hand are not points until they are converted to points. They know what they need to do to close the gap.

This game will be difficult for both teams. Teams are starting to close in on Baroka and they are keen to extend their lead.

However, I like the mentality of coach Kgoloko Thobejane when he calls himself the best coach in the league at the moment. It is very important as a coach to believe in yourself and in your team. The more you show disbelief and lack of confidence in yourself and the team, the more it will rub off on your players.

For him to proclaim himself as a great coach speaks volumes about his self-confidence. That statement gives a lot of motivation to the players and the coaching staff as a whole.

I believe that every time the players go out on to the pitch, they go in there with the belief they are the best and they are being led by the best and you seldom go wrong with that mentality, hence we see their league position, even though they haven’t won a league game for quite some time.

This kind of motivation that is being instilled by the coach

gives them the confidence to say “we will continue to fight for the league”.

Another match to look forward to is Orlando Pirates against SuperSport United. We know matches between the two are usually thrillers. There has been a deep-rooted grudge between the two sides since the 6-1 drubbing handed down by SuperSport last season. Although it may be a year ago, it will always remain in the hearts of Pirates and they will always look to settle the score.

On the other hand, SuperSport are playing catch-up and they need to win in order to move up the table. They also don’t want to find themselves in a situation where they have a lot of games in hand but fail to convert those games into points.