Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Getting the most from their strikers Tinkler brings out the best in Brockie
McCarthy gives ‘Major’ motivation
LEHLOHONOLO Majoro is cut from the same cloth as Benni McCarthy, with just one key fabric missing, which the Cape Town City coach is looking to stitch into the striker to make him whole.
The fabric that Majoro lacks is the one that made McCarthy to be a prolific striker who holds the record as Bafana Bafana’s all- time goalscorer with 31 goals. But every other trait that McCarthy has – from being outspoken to challenging authority and believing in his own talent, are skills that Majoro has in abundance. The 31-year-old striker speaks his mind, he forced a move from Kaizer Chiefs to their rivals Orlando Pirates after a deal was concluded with SuperSport United and once flashed a t-shirt with a message “I do have balls” after his mental strength was questioned. It’s easy to see why these two have hit it off, forming a strong bond that saw them form a pact.
“Majoro has his sights on something else and I am afraid I am going to end up on the losing side,” McCarthy said, after Majoro scored the goal that finished off Bidvest Wits in the Citizens’ march to the final. “You should use everything possible to motivate a player to get the best out of them. You can try and push players to get the best out of them. He keeps counting. Every time he sees me, he counts so at the end of the season or when he reaches his targets, I will let you in on a little secret that’s behind Majoro’s energy and goalscoring ratio.”
Majoro leads the Cape side’s scoring charts with three goals in eight matches. He will look to add to that tally tonight at Moses Mabhida Stadium in the MTN8 final. “Major” used to call that venue home in his time with AmaZulu. He played his best football for the Durban side, scoring 14 goals in 28 games in his debut season in the 2010/11 campaign.
While his career progressed further with his move to Chiefs and Pirates, Majoro never reached those figures, with 10 goals a season his best effort in the colours of these two Soweto giants. The pact he has with his coach could have something to do with him matching or bettering those 14 goals that shot him to stardom. In McCarthy, he has an ideal coach to get him to that level. Majoro does well under coaches he can relate to. He was able to find his scoring touch at Usuthu due to the understanding Manqoba Mngqithi has with him, having followed his career from his days at university before giving him a professional contract.
“The character of the side is a reflection of the manager,” McCarthy said. “When you have a coach who doesn’t expect nothing but 100 percent (you will go far). All I ask from them, isn’t to play the best football in the world, I just ask them to go out there and play, give 100 percent effort, be committed and do their best. Match your opponents. Look at how hard they run and run harder.”
If the Citizens get to be a reflection of McCarthy, Majoro will be the biggest beneficiary as the former FC Porto striker has a thing or two he can teach “Major” about consistently putting the ball in the back of the net. GETTING Jeremy Brockie to fight for the ‘Blue Badge’ right after SuperSport United turned down his request to join Mamelodi Sundowns before the start of this season was pretty simple for Eric Tinker.
The United coach simply struck his ego, challenging the New Zealander to net a total of at least 20 goals in all competitions, before they could start talking about the possibility of him moving to Chloorkop in the coming season.
Not only did Tinkler challenge Brockie’s goal- scoring prowess for this campaign, but he also opened the striker’s eyes and mind to the possibility of him leaving the club as the club’s new all-time leading goal-scorer, after Abram Raselemane did so back in 2006 with his 57 goals before he went to join Wits.
And that’s why Brockie’s head was in the right place when Tinkler fielded him in their MTN8 second leg semi-final encounter against Maritzburg United following his return into the starting XI. The striker hammered in two well-taken headers to help his side reach the final with a 3-1 aggregate scoreline, and they are now set to lock horns with Cape Town City for the R8 million price money at Moses Mabhida Stadium ( Kick- off 7pm).
Tinker said he was pleased with how the striker responded to the whole transfer saga, though his desired move to go and join the reigning African champions did not happen despite him having shown the initial interest to do so.
“And that’s the reality of football,” Tinkler said. “You saw this happen with (Liverpool’s) Philippe Coutinho’s (ambition to go and join FC Barcelona). You also saw it with ( Arsenal’s Alexis) Sanchez (dream to go and join Manchester City) as well.
“If a move doesn’t happen, then you’ve got to be professional enough to continue with what you love the most and fight for your current club you are playing for. And Jeremy is one of those. He loves the game. He loves scoring goals and is also a very good professional. And that made it easy for me to convince him to continue fighting for the team.”
However, Tinkler also revealed that it was quite crucial for him to make sure the striker felt valued following his arrival as United’snew coach, as failure to do so would have seen him fail to get the best performances out of the player.
“From the first day when I arrived here (at the club), I told him that he was our number one striker,” Tinkler said. “I also added that come the end of the season, if he scores more than 20 goals in all competitions, then we would sit down and discuss where his future lies for next season. If he does that (reach the 20 goal tally), then I would be a very happy man as his coach.
“He scored a total 18 goals in all competitions last season and so this should be an attainable feat for him to reach.”
Asked how Brockie felt about being a mere six goals away from being the club’s new all- time leading goal- scorer, Tinkler said: “I don’t think he hardly thinks about that. He’s a natural goal-scorer.
“He’s somebody who always wants to score more goals all the time.
“He also has a lot of self-belief and confidence within himself, and that’s key for any professional football player.
“But above all else, he remains a great professional.”