The news of coach Shaun Bartlett terminating his contract with Cape Town Spurs by mutual consent, as per the team's official statement, following their 3-1 iKapaDerby loss against Cape Town City at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday afternoon, came as no surprise! Whatever mutual consent means, can anyone point a finger at the former Bafana Bafana striker and blame him for the team's fortunes so far this season?
The Urban Warriors are the only DStv Premiership team without a win or draw so far, having played seven games. The Parow-based club has only scored four goals and conceded 15 times, under the 50-year-old mentor's guidance. Asked about the challenges he's faced and how he planned to turn things around at Ikamva, the club legend gave brutally honest answers to every question posed at him by the members of the Fourth Estate, but the below answer couldn't have summed up his time any better.
"It's like you're asking a chef to put on a delicious dish, but you don't give them the ingredients. It's difficult, my friend. That's the major concern at this moment in time. I'm trying my utmost best with the technical team, with the other coaches to change the fortunes around because it is not the position we want to be in. For five years, we've been fighting to be in the DStv Premiership and we want to make sure that we start it on a better note, and at this moment in time it's not. So, we've got, as a club, to go and look what is the problem at this moment in time. It's easy to say 'me', and I will take the responsibility.
It's not the issue, that's why I chose the job. Nobody gave the job to me, I chose it and it is a thankless job because next week, when we win a game, all the players will get praised and I will be pushed aside. So, at the end of the day, that's what I chose to do, to be the coach of this club. When I came in, it was first to save them from relegation and then get promotion. That's fine, but now it is not going as we planned, so I think collectively the decision needs to be made as to how we are going to turn it around and what needs to be done."
Anyone who was in that post-match press conference room with coach Shaun on Saturday couldn't have been surprised by the club's announcement a few days later because they would have seen it coming. It is history now that the Urban Warriors have their Technical Director, Sean Connor, as the temporary head coach, assisted by former Cape Town City assistant coach, Vasili Manousakis, in the team's efforts to turn the tide. For a team that won promotion this past season, you'd have expected Spurs to have a better start to the new campaign as relative 'unknowns' in the league if you look at the example set by Sekhukhune United and Richards Bay FC, to mention just two.
Were they right to 'press the panic button' seven games into the season? Yes, something had to be done as coach Shaun mentioned, but was this the right decision? Is this decision going to help change the team's fortunes? Was Bartlett the problem at Spurs? Will his absence take the team forward or backward? Are the new coaches going to succeed where Shaun failed? These are just some of the questions that come to mind, but one is willing to place a bet on the status quo remaining the same unless the powers that be find it within themselves to upgrade their squad with depth, more quality and experience. This is a big league, some of the things they got away with in the Motsepe Foundation Championship simply won't go unchallenged in the DStv Premiership. Seven games into the season is too soon, some might think, but the reality is that Spurs are 24 points off the pace!
That's a massive gap, having zero points at this stage, and everyone knows how difficult it is to collect points in the second round of the season. Looking at the two teams that last won promotion, they have one thing in common: their first round performance secured their DStv Premiership status because that's where they collected most points and found life difficult in the second stanza. The 'surprise' element in their play saw them catch many a team unawares, only to be found out in the second half of the campaign. Now, if you don't start well, what makes you think you can finish well?
If starting well has worked for your predecessors, why not learn from it and build your own solid foundation based on their experience? Not even top teams find it easy to collect points in the second round because it is a dog-eat-dog world as everyone is scavenging for points for different reasons and cases. The signs were there, even before the referee blew the first whistle to kick 2023/24 off, that this was going to be a long and laborious season for the Urban Warriors.
Their failure to strengthen their team with top quality left much to be desired and is one of the reasons they are where they are. Even the change of coaching might prove not enough to save this sinking ship unless something miraculous happens. Whether the team management wants to admit it or not, they failed to make the most of the transfer market and their inactivity is coming back to haunt them. The alarm bells should have been heard from the time they failed to secure automatic qualification and made life difficult for themselves.
None of that was the coach's fault or wrong calls, it was simply down to lack of depth and quality in the team, and if they struggled in the play-offs, what really made them think they would have it better in the season? The reality is that, at this level, you need experience, youth and quality, and that's the balancing act that you need to master because you are not going to get far without one or two. There were times when inexperience cost them games they should have won, while there were games that they lost because they punched above their weight.
If you look at the team up front, they are so lean and inexperienced to find the back of the net and living on potential is just not enough. Even the depth is questionable and it's certainly not a team that is ready to challenge for anything. Unfortunately, the new coaching staff will soon realise that they have inherited the same problems as their predecessors, once again, unless the management dives into the transfer market and sign quality and experienced players. If they don't wake up and smell the coffee, they will continue to change coaches while making their way back to the Motsepe Foundation Championship, something so heartbreaking to even think of considering how long and hard their way back was.
Add to that the fact that Western Cape now has three elite league teams and the last thing they need is to lose the Urban Warriors. This is no ordinary club, forget about the name change, because this team has launched so many careers and impacted South African football massively. It is for that reason that we can't fold our arms and watch them shooting themselves in the foot. They need to restore their pride, redeem themselves and continue to be a force to be reckoned with in our football landscape. It would be terrible for this team to go down and follow in the footsteps of the likes of Jomo Cosmos. The sooner they get their act together, the better.
Cheers,
VeeJay
