Character key for consistency – Cavin
Johnson’s platinum recipe for success set to test Chiefs and Ajax
PLATINUM STARS coach Cavin Johnson believes that character is the key ingredient to creating consistency in a football team. The 57-year-old from Westbury in Johannesburg, famed for being the man who discovered international star Steven Pienaar, has based his coaching philosophy on instilling in his squad determination, courage and an almost desperate desire to never give up. And Platinum certainly needed every bit of this attitude to get past gutsy Cape second division team Steenberg United in a Nedbank Cup fixture at the weekend. The Rustenburg side eventually made it into the next round after winning 5-4 on penalties.
But they’ll require even more of this spunk and perseverance this week. Tonight, Platinum have a tough PSL fixture against Kaizer Chiefs, where there will definitely be a whiff of revenge in the air – and, soon after, “another” Mother City side is set to test the character of Johnson’s men.
Johnson’s side defeated Chiefs 2-1 with a late flourish – and two goals from Kuils River striker Eleazar Rodgers – at the Cape Town Stadium last month. No doubt, the popular Soweto club wants to avenge that unexpected loss tonight.
And then, on Sunday, Platinum host Ajax Cape Town in a PSL fixture at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg (kickoff 3.30pm) – and Johnson, of course, is well aware of the threat posed by the Capetonians.
Johnson spent a few years working in Ajax’s youth structures and also had a spell as head coach. But it was in 2012, when in charge of Platinum, that he quickly rose to prominence. He inspired the unfashionable Rustenburg team to a second position finish on the PSL standings and was, as such, poached by ambitious SuperSport United the following year.
Things never went according to plan in Pretoria and, now, Johnson is back at his beloved Platinum – and, again, his special affinity for the club has the players motivated and performing.
Ajax are in a bit of a slump – currently on a disappointing four-game winless run – but Johnson is not reading too much into that. In fact, he’s not even thinking too much about Ajax at the moment – tonight’s Chiefs clash is top of his thoughts. He’ll focus on the Capetonians when he wakes up on Thursday morning.
“There have to be strong characters in a team,” said Johnson. “You must have players who will fight for a point, or never give up trying to get three points… I think there is a lot of character in this Platinum squad – you saw that when we beat Chiefs in the Cape last time.
“I think we’ll be a much better squad next season. Right now, we are working on the team to be more consistent and trying to build a winning mentality. But I’m looking forward to the run-in to the season… I think we’ve shown we are a capable, competitive squad and we want (to) finish as high as we possibly can.”
In contrast, while Platinum have displayed the character and courage Johnson believes to be vital to success, Ajax have recently been bereft of these traits. The Capetonians simply capitulate… when things go wrong, there’s no fight, and there’s no determination to knuckle down and mount a strong challenge in the face of adversity.
Some would suggest the team needs stronger characters and more inspirational leaders – and they would probably be right. Because, right now, there’s a fragility about the Cape squad that is extremely worrying.
And Ajax coach Roger de Sa is certainly fully aware of what his squad lacks: “Defensively, we have a natural tendency to always back off and that hurts us. As soon as teams become a little bit physical and the officials allow it, we battle.
“We start to get on the back foot… we’ve got to be a bit more offensive and defend forward. That’s one of the things we’ve got to look at, we need to become men and take that confrontation head-on.
“It also looks like we are lacking a little bit of confidence. Players are getting into goal-scoring opportunities, but not executing correctly, which is disappointing.”