McCarthy loses his cool as pressure gets to him

He was known as “Mr Cool” while scoring goals during his playing career. But now Benni McCarthy seems to have undergone a transformation while sitting on the Cape Town City bench as a coach.

And while he has achieved more instant success as a coach than anyone might have imagined after City boss John Comitis gambled on his appointment, it has been easy to detect McCarthy displaying signs of a man under pressure as he directs the fortunes of his players on the field.

Renowned local coach and former player Gordon Igesund says there is nothing unusual about McCarthy’s behaviour and personality turnaround “because there is a great deal more pressure on the bench than you feel as a player”.

“Ask any coach in the PSL about this,” added Igesund, “and most of them have played the game themselves to a greater and lesser degree. To a man they will tell you the pressure is greater when you are watching others do the job than when you were doing it yourself.

“After all,” reasoned Igesund, “you hear a player should get the sack simply because his team is losing. As for the poor coach, he faces this kind of threatening fate all the time”.

And even those more composed fellows like Roger de Sa (Platinum Stars) and Steve Komphela (Kaizer Chiefs) are probably boiling within when they appear calm and collected on the outside.

So McCarthy is simply only falling into a pattern, berating referees and giving the impression the world is disintegrating under his feet.