Ajax out to erase bad memories of 2009

ABSA Premiership coach of the month Muhsin Ertugral describes watching Ajax Cape Town’s 6-0 defeat to Golden Arrows in the MTN8 final as “a dark moment in my career” and says he felt “guilty” for leaving them at such a crucial time.

He got them to the 2009 final but left two weeks before the match against Arrows for Turkish side Sivasspor.

Ahead of Saturday’s MTN8 final between Ajax and Kaizer Chiefs, Ertugral analyses his former sides and finds it difficult to pick a winner. Steve Komphela (Chiefs)

He is a shrewd tactician. Now he is in the spotlight and I believe he has everything to be a top coach. He has to win trophies but he has a lot of contenders for both the league and the cups. Coaching Chiefs is like sitting in a Ferrari. You have to go fast. What happens when you drive a Ferrari? You have to win. I think he will be successful. Roger de Sa (Ajax)

Roger came in and Ajax became a stable side. He has done a great job with the team.

They know what they want at Ajax and I think in three (years) they will be a team no one wants to play against.

He has played in some finals (and) I think he will be working hard to make sure that his team wins this one. “THIS time we want tears of joy,” Granwald Scott said, six years after that catastrophic night at Orlando Stadium against Golden Arrows.

The night of October 24 2009 is one no one at Ajax Cape Town wants to be reminded of. It ended in humiliation and despair.

The joy of reaching the MTN8 final soon became a nightmare for Scott and Ajax, who lost 6-0 in one of the most one-sided cup finals in SA football history.

Coach Muhsin Ertugral got Ajax to the final, but he left two weeks before the clash against Arrows and the players had clearly not recovered.

“I was injured and I was in the stands. I was itching to play but I couldn’t,” Scott, 27, said.

“It was humiliating. As a player you wish that never Chiefs: Many of the players at Chiefs have the pedigree of being in a final. They have the attitude to win cups and that’s important.

Their defensive structure has not been so stable as last season. Sometimes it takes a while for players to adapt to the new coach’s philosophy. But they have a very good team with happens,” said the midfielder ahead of Saturday’s MTN8 final with Kaizer Chiefs at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. “It was difficult for us.

“Muhsin had just left after getting us to the final. Brett Evans was also out and Eduardo [Ferreira] too. So we had Franklin [Cale] at left back and Dipsy [Selolwane] as a striker. It was just not our day.”

Scott was on the losing side in May this year when Mamelodi Sundowns beat Ajax on penalties in the Nedbank Cup final at the same Port Elizabeth venue.

“That [the Nedbank Cup] was not bad. Penalties are a lottery. If the goalkeeper is good on the day, you can’t do anything about it,” he said.

“It’s also up to the players because we had two bad misses [in the shootout].” experienced players. Ajax: Their team is very young. They are a very unpredictable team and the young boys will be hungry for success. They’ve got a good goalkeeper (Annsi Jaakkola) and I think (Abbubaker) Mobara and (Rivaldo) Coetzee are top central defenders. For me Mobara has to play for Bafana. I also think (Riyaad) Norodien is such a great talent.

But Scott is no stranger to winning trophies. He was just 18 when he first tasted cup success, as Ajax stunned an experienced Sundowns in the 2006 Absa Cup final.

Two years later he played a key role in the Telkom Knockout success.

“I was part of the Absa Cup 2006. It was the best feeling. You never want that feeling to go away,” he said.

Scott, who has been at Ajax since he was 12, says Ajax have to play “smart” to beat Chiefs.

“We should box clever and stick to the game plan. We have to be smart and not rush anything. We don’t want to feel the pain of losing in a final again,” he said.

Scott wants to win a trophy for his coach, Roger de Sa, who has one title and six cup final defeats.

But everything at Ajax depends on Granwald Scott in the midfield. He is a fantastic player and knows exactly what is required of him. Chiefs: The midfield. (Willard) Katsande is underrated, which is strange. He is a ball winner. Yeye (Reneilwe Letsholonyane) is also a great player and he has LEFT BEFORE FINAL: Coach Muhsin Ertugral departed from Ajax Cape Town in 2009 a good combination with Shabba (Siphiwe Tshabalala) and (Bernard) Parker. Ajax should not give them space. Ajax: I can’t say which is the strongest department. They are more of a unit because many of them have played together for years. They are able to hold on to the ball very well. Chiefs Reneilwe Letsholonyane: When we got him to Chiefs he was more defensive, doing what Katsande does now. Ajax Granwald Scott: If Granwald plays, things will be tough for Chiefs. Who will win?: It’s very difficult. It depends on the day.