Transfer talk affects Brockie
TINKLER: WE WANT HIM FOCUSED ON HIS JOB WITH US
Coach says if the right offer comes in, he can leave.
Eric Tinkler believes that Jeremy Brockie’s form with SuperSport United has been affected by all the talk of the New Zealand striker moving to Mamelodi Sundowns or Orlando Pirates.
It does seem increasingly likely that Brockie will move away from Matsatsantsa this month, with the club having fended off interest from Sundowns in the last transfer window.
The 30-year-old is still in the mix to start for SuperSport in this evening’s Absa Premiership game at Bidvest Wits, but he has only scored one league goal this season, at home to Platinum Stars on September 12.
SuperSport have been on a poor run in the league of late, without a win in their last six matches.
“Brockie needs to start scoring again,” acknowledged Tinkler yesterday.
“I do think so (he has been distracted by the transfer talk). That is the negative side of the situation. His agent has been working on trying to get him that move since the beginning of the season. We stated then that he needed to stay with us, because the offer we got was not good enough, and he is still contracted to us. We have always said we wouldn’t stand in his way if the right offer came in.
“It is not an ideal situation, we want him focused on his job at SuperSport.”
Tinkler, however, denied there was any personal rift between himself and Brockie.
“Not at all,” added the Matsatsantsa coach, who admitted that SuperSport will look to bring in another striker before the end of January, if the Kiwi does go.
“If Brockie goes we need to find a replacement ... we have been scouting for a while, because there was talk already at the beginning of the season, let alone now … so many things can happen during this period, we are always keeping our eyes and ears open.”
Wits are rock-bottom of the league, after a shambolic first part of the defence of their title, but Tinkler does not read too much into that.
“It is obviously a surprise, they are the league champions and have a lot of qualities. You can’t underestimate the psychological factor ... but that can be easily turned around, one positive result, and with the quality they have they will start climbing the table. We can’t go there underestimating them.”