While Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler was happy to get a 3-1 win in the iKapa Derby over Cape Town Spurs, Tinkler had sympathy for his opposite number and former Bafana Bafana teammate Shaun Bartlett.
The victory, City’s first win in seven games, will also be a big relief to the club, who moved on to ten points after eight matches.
This is not the first time Tinkler has beaten a 1996 Bafana teammate in a Cape Town derby, and in 2016, in Tinkler’s first stint at City, his newly-formed team beat Roger De Sa’s Ajax Cape Town. A month later De Sa resigned from the Urban Warriors.
While Spurs grabbed an early lead, the game swung in City’s direction after they equalised via a penalty. City, who dominated possession, added two goals in the second half, and it could have been more, as they won their fifth derby against the Urban Warriors (four against Ajax, and now one against Spurs).
It was Spurs’ seventh consecutive loss in the DStv Premiership and a difficult start for Bartlett in the top flight.
Spurs reacted later in the evening, by appointing Northern Irishman Sean Connor as Technical Director. It is not clear what Bartlett’s future is just yet.
Speaking after the game, Tinkler said he had sympathy for Bartlett.
“I already spoke to him after the game,” Tinkler said at the post match presser.
“I said one thing, you must control what you can control, which is your level of professionalism, what you do every day when you come in and you train your team, and continue with that belief, that what you’re doing is, is right.
“Because the game of football can be cruel, very, very cruel, especially for coaches. So I feel for him.
“I had a conversation the other night about, you see what’s happening at Barcelona, you see what’s happening at Ajax Amsterdam, they sitting poorly in the league, Barca is now under threat of having to close doors.
“And it’s difficult for those teams to compete when you just using youngsters. That’s just just the fact, and development comes through phases, doesn’t just happen. You get phases where a group of players come through, and they are all talented, and they are all mature, and they come into the team and they integrated quite easily. But then there’s going to be others that take time.
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“And unfortunately, we are in the business of now. We want results now. So that’s one side of the game that’s changed, in my opinion, which is sad.”
About City’s move up the table, Tinkler said he doesn’t look at things like that.
“I don’t look at the table like you guys look at the table,” Tinkler replied.
“You guys look at the table, ‘Oh you’re sitting in 13th position?’ I look at the table. ‘Okay, where am I? I am sitting 13th, but I win today, top eight. And I win next week, I’m second.’
“Or, I’m one point away from second. So if I just look at the table and say, ‘Oh, shit we’re sitting in 13th, then I’m not being realistic. I look at the league table, and I say, ‘Jesus, we’re not far off.’
“That’s how I assess it. And I say one more win here, you jumped to the table, all the pressures released, the sensationalism, I leave it to you guys, I don’t get involved, and move on.”
