Barker confident but gives no promises
AMAZULU’S new coach Steve Barker is not cowed by his uncle Clive’s legendary reputation at the club.
He entrenched himself as one of South Africa’s harder-working and unassuming coaches during his time with the University of Pretoria, but he also comes across as very combative and competitive.
However, joining AmaZulu has proven to be a special moment for him.
“It is a poignant moment in my career to be able to be slowly following in my uncle’s footsteps. Hopefully I will be able to emulate the achievements he had with this club. I haven’t spoken to him yet but when Mpumalanga Black Aces come round next week, I will catch up with him,” Barker said.
In an environment where promises are easily kept and broken, Barker was not in the mood to say whether he will deliver or not, especially with the predicament that AmaZulu are in.
Their Premiership lives were not made any easier by Moroka Swallows’ shock but deserved 2-1 win against Maritzburg United at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Wednesday evening.
“The next five games will probably make or break the season. For me, I think it is the biggest four weeks in the club’s history and each and every game, which will be spread evenly home and away, we will need to pick up points.
“When I say points, I am not talking about a draw here and there, I am talking about wins under the belt,” Barker said.
“This season’s league has been strange in a sense that anybody can beat anyone on any given day.
“Every single team in the league is beatable and if you are not at the top of your game, you will get found out. We just need to ensure we play to our full potential and putting high quality and intensive displays on the field. If we don’t do that, there won’t be a change to the current results.”
Barker refuted claims that he was on a monthto-month contract with his former club AmaTuks, who will be first foes of his AmaZulu job on Tuesday evening at the Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu.
The composition of his support team is not clear yet, which leaves the future of former caretaker and assistant coach Wilfred Mugeyi unclear.
AmaZulu’s marketing manager Lunga Sokhela and Barker would not be drawn on his assistants.
Sammy Troughton, who was one of his assistants at AmaTuks, is out of the picture due to his assumption of the main coaching role at the Pretoria club.
Sokhela also refused to divulge the length of Barker’’s contract, which he just left at “lengthy”.
Barker said he will be looking for people he has worked with and who will be loyal to him.
“Any coach that wants to be successful needs people around them that have the abilities and the qualities that you think that will help you achieve what you want to achieve. There have been some very good people around the University of Pretoria that have been with me, so them joining me will always be a possibility,” Barker said.
“It happens in football that as a coach if there are people that you trust, you want them to come with you. At this stage I can’t comment further on that but there is a possibility of them joining me.”