Bartlett relishing AmaTuks challenge
TO SAY that the University of Pretoria will automatically bounce back from the National First Division (NFD) straight into the Absa Premiership would be pushing it. Even AmaTuks coach, Shaun Bartlett, agrees.
But this is what the former Bafana Bafana international is hoping achieve. He has done it before, after all.
During his stint with Lamontville Golden Arrows, Bartlett went down with Abafana bes’thende only to immediately bring them back to the elite league.
In that NFD campaign, Arrows won the championship with an impressive 60 points, forcing their closest competitors, Jomo Cosmos (53 points), to gain promotion via the playoffs.
Ahead of AmaTuks’ opening match of the season against Cape Town All Stars on Saturday at Tuks Stadium (kick-off 3pm), Bartlett said he held no grudges against his former side Arrows who didn’t keep him after their promotion.
Instead, he hopes to inspire the same performance with his current team as he was able to do with the Durban-based club two seasons ago.
“It’s every coach’s dream to coach in the PSL. It’s a very common desire among us (coaches), really. But when I got the axe after having led Arrows back into the Premiership, I had to make peace with it. And I have. It is now all in the past. My focus now is with AmaTuks. We’ve brought in young players who I believe will help us do well in this campaign. They are a bunch of unknowns, but they can play. They are quality. This is their chance to make an impact in the world of football. And that can only be a plus for us.”
AmaTuks lost a number of their key players to PSL teams following their relegation with the likes of Thabo Mnyamane joining neighbours SuperSport United and Junior Sibande penning a deal with newly promoted side Highlands Park.
“We are actually looking forward to the season and the first game.
“It’s our home game and it’s very important that we start our season well. The plan is to collect as many points as we possibly can in the first round because the second rounds are always a bit difficult to do just that. We’ll take it one game at time and see what happens afterwards.”