SuperSport United head coach Gavin Hunt could not hide his delight after Thulani Hlatshwayo scooped the 2022/23 Player of the Season award at their annual club ceremony on Monday evening.
Hlatshwayo, 33, won the only league title in Bidvest Wits’ 99-year history under Hunt before their status sale in 2020 to Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) and went on to join Orlando Pirates as the Bafana Bafana captain at the time.
But his stint at Mayfair was nothing short of a nightmare, as he struggled for form in his first season before eventually losing his place in the starting eleven and then being released from his contract after seeking regular first-team football.
Hunt subsequently snapped him up on his return for a second stint at SuperSport and he’s been their pillar of strength in defence missing only six games due to concussion as they finished in third place for the first time in over a decade, and qualified for the CAF Confederation Cup.
“Well the happiest man in the room is me, because everyone told me he was finished, he was done, center-halves for me, the best center-halves in the world only mature between 34 and 37 and he’s 31,” Hunt said when asked about Tyson by iDiski Times.
“He’s achieved a lot with me, personally, before – and I knew if I get him playing to his strengths, he can achieve a lot.”
Hunt went on to suggest there’s more to come from ‘Tyson’ in terms of goalscoring and his remarkable career renaissance has even given him thoughts of luring his former club and international teammate Buhle Mkhwanazi out of retirement.
“This year I think he missed a lot, in terms of scoring, maybe the service wasn’t too good, I’m talking real football specifics but I think what he’s done this year is given us what I know he can give us.
‘I think he can only get better, he proved me right and maybe we need to get Buhle back as well, then we have a real combination.”
On finishing third behind Orlando Pirates and champions Mamelodi Sundowns in his first season in his second stint at the club, the four-time league winner stated the real work for himself, the club and the squad starts now, to try and build on their achievement.
“When I came to the club, I was really worried and we had a long discussion about what we need and what we don’t need,” Hunt said.
“I came in two weeks before the start of the season, we missed a lot of the main part of the pre-season and I looked at the team and thought, ugh, we didn’t start off too great, we drew, lost, drew, lost – and you know what you need and don’t need.
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“Where to get them, and how to get them is another problem, but once we got our team settled, I thought there was a little bit more we could achieve with the team and I think with a few additions, we can more nice and competitive.
“The league is very competitive from second to 16th and I think everyone can win on any given day, we need to get ourselves sorted, now the real work starts for me, the board, and everyone, we’ll see [what comes next].”
