Veteran coach Muhsin Ertugrul has answered some pressing questions coming his way and revealed the lessons football has taught him over the years.
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The story
With a journeyman coaching career spanning around 30 years, experienced Turkish coach Muhsin Ertugrul has learned his fair share in the game.
After parting ways with Cape Town City in March, following a disappointing run of results that included a 10-match winless streak with seven losses, the former head coach of Maritzburg United, Orlando Pirates, and Kaizer Chiefs was expected to take on the role of technical director at City at the end of the season.
However, this will not happen as he has officially left the club. Ertugrul was named Coach of the Month in January after winning three of his first four matches, which included back-to-back victories over Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
Unfortunately, his time at the club took a turn for the worse shortly after. Since stepping down from his position at the relegation-threatened City, Muhsin has been sharing valuable insights on his Instagram page about his relationship with the beautiful game.
In his latest post, he reflected on the lessons he has learned from football, addressing topics such as regret, "what could have been," and what he would have done differently if he could start his coaching career all over again.
"In football, reflection is essential, I think. I have learned over all these years, this game doesn’t reward perfection, it’s impossible. I would say it demands presence and clarity for your important and tough decisions," wrote the veteran coach in a lengthy post.
Mushin has taken over a fair share of PSL clubs mid-season, including Ajax Cape Town (now Cape Town Spurs), Golden Arrows, Maritzburg United (now Durban City) and more recently, Cape Town City.
His IG post also saw him mention the difficulties he’s experienced in joining clubs while the season is ongoing, and the restoring job coaches are tasked with when put in such scenarios.
"When I stepped into clubs mid-season, which I had a couple of, you were not coming in to debate the past. You came to restore direction which you brought in, because something is not working.
"And you hear and read, some of the same voices asked for trust, but were present when things went wrong before," noted Muhsin, who added that football is not fiction.
"We often hear former players or coaches saying, If only I had done it differently. Football is not about fiction. It is for me, living with what was real, and doing what needed to be done in that moment and under those conditions," he pointed out.
"As a coach, I believe I never had the luxury of fantasy or romanticism, because you have to live with your decisions that need to be made and not imagined," added the Turkish mentor
Despite admitting that he has some regret over some of his coaching experiences in the past, he understands that dwelling on the past won’t help him to take responsibility and move forward with his career.
"To those who ask, could it have been different? Of course, it could have been different. But leadership isn’t about possibilities, I think. It is about responsibility. Responsibility can only walk forward. Not backwards," he wrote.
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