Truter needs to show some humility

LET me start by saying that I do not condone the poor treatment that coach Brandon Truter and his family allegedly endured in the twilight of his tenure at Swallows FC.

Truter, the current AmaZulu interim coach, claimed at Dobsonville Stadium this week that he and his family were threatened by the Swallows faithful after the team went through a slump last year.

He also claimed that the club chaired by David Magoshoa, a business tycoon, still owe him his settlement fees after they prematurely released him from his contract due to a series of poor results.

For someone who resurrected the once ‘Mighty Dube Birds’ from the doldrums of the lower ranks of South Africa football back to the elite league in less than a season in charge, he deserved more respect from the fans and Magoshoa’s office.

But he claims that never happened …

Enough about that – let’s address the elephant in the room and how Truter reacts when he’s on cloud nine.

The Cape-born coach can be disrespectful, thinking he’s walking on water, whenever he’s doing well. He’s won four games and drawn one at Usuthu.

Amid his scathing claims upon his return to face Swallows – where AmaZulu won 1-0 to inflict more misery on his relegated-threatened former employers, Truter took a swipe at his successor Dylan Kerr, calling him a “cheap import”. Really? Kerr a cheap import? While I’m all for local ‘qualified’ coaches getting a nod ahead of imports, there’s no way someone would regard Kerr as ‘cheap’.

Having qualified for various Uefa coaching badges, including working with various FAs across Europe, Kerr’s coaching success is welldocumented.

Sure, locally, Kerr is known as a ‘survival specialist’ after retaining the statuses of Black Leopards, Baroka and Marumo Gallants, where he also won the Nedbank Cup.

But that he’s also coached two giants of African football, Simba SC and Gor Mahia speaks volumes.

So, for Truter – who’s auditioning for a permanent job that he arguably won’t get at Usuthu – to call Kerr a cheap import, is very far from the truth.

I may not be a coach, but surely humility and respect for your counterparts must be part of lesson one.

So, it’s really appalling that Truter doesn’t seem to conform to that.

While he was still at Swallows, ‘Brakkies’ also let his euphoria get the better of him as took a dig at Mamelodi Sundowns’ coaching trio of Rulani Mokwena, Manqoba Mngqithi and Steve Komphela after the teams’ 1-1 draw.

He said at the time: “They have three coaches there.

“I saw one coach putting our tactics all over social media‚ trying to get other coaches involved.”

Truter must focus on working on his craft and fighting with the relevant people. And who knows, he might have tattoos and real trophies to show for his success!