On winning the Carling Knockout
We are very proud of the club as a whole for winning the Carling Knockout against TS Galaxy, we are excited and pleased for the players because they worked really hard to achieve this. They really committed to and deserved what they got this past weekend, which is winning a trophy. In summary, it's a proud moment for me as a coach and Stellenbosch FC as a football club. After getting knocked out in the semifinal of the Nedbank Cup last season, I kept on telling the players that we were unlucky last season. We were also knocked out in the quarter-final of the MTN8 by Kaizer Chiefs on penalties. Sekhukhune United knocked us out on penalties in the Nedbank Cup. This season we couldn't advance to the MTN8 final after losing on the away goal rule to Orlando Pirates. I kept telling the players that we must keep knocking on the door and keep putting ourselves in these positions, and by doing that eventually we will win a trophy. I think it's been good perseverance and resilience also, the ability to bounce back after those setbacks. In the Carling Knockout, we went out one step further and got into the final and the message to the players was, "Now that we are in the final, we might as well go ahead and win it." Consistency, perseverance and resilience paid off. In the final, I thought we played well and when we got that Fawaaz Basadien red card, we were derailed a little bit because Fawaaz is one of our penalty takers – his name was on the list. At that time, there was not much time left before the end of extra time, so we had to readjust our thinking and our planning in terms of the penalty takers. So ja, the red card did derail us a little bit. Our first penalty, which we missed, was a little bit of a concern because you don't want to miss the first penalty, especially after the opposition had scored. I was a bit concerned and maybe thought: "Here we go again, another penalty shootout lost." But we practised over the few months in all the cup tournaments from the Nedbank Cup, MTN8 and Carling Cup – we've been involved in a lot of cup matches and practising a lot of our penalties. Even though I was concerned after the first miss, I knew that we were well-prepared. I was quite confident that we were going to win the penalty shootout but obviously needed them to miss, which they did. In the end, it all worked out well for us.
On the spine of the team
We have a very good spine in our team, starting with our goalkeeper Sage Stephens. He is massively important for us and in the last few months he has won us many points in the league. We had 1-0 victories where he made one-last gasp save on more than one occasion. He showed real, real consistency and if you look at the goals we conceded in the last few games, there has been very few and I put that down to Sage's great performances. He has been a really key member of the team, so it does baffle me that he doesn't get a shout into the Bafana Bafana team, especially when five goalkeepers are chosen. He just needs to keep doing what he has been doing and keep performing well because that will be good for us as a football club. The fact that goalkeepers don't get the credit they deserve is because maybe we are a nation that traditionally wants to be entertained. Outfield players that have good dribbling skills and good technique, it's easy for them to entertain the crowd. Sometimes the goalkeepers don't always get the credit they deserve despite being key members of a football team. They are the spine of the team. The goalkeepers, centre-backs, central midfield players and centre-forwards, they are always important.
I don't think a team can achieve success without having a really good goalkeeper. Achieving this success is testament to Sage's run of good of form, he has worked hard, he is very dedicated, well-committed and looks after himself, and we are proud of what he has achieved. Ismail Toure at centre-back has an incredible character to win, he is a winner. He drives people at training and hates losing. He has that sort of a mentality about him which rubs off on the rest of the team and players. He just wants success. He came to us to bring success to the team. His size, he is a very imposing centre-back, he has quality on the ball, aerially he is very hard to beat and very difficult to beat in one-on-one situations. He is an asset on set-pieces both defending and attacking. All round, he has added massive value to the team. His experience having played in Africa, his cup run with Marumo Gallants (in the CAF Confederation Cup) added experience in his game and he is helping us and some of our youngsters in the team to learn from him. In midfield, Darrel Matsheke has done well already. When Gavin Hunt coached at Kaizer Chiefs, he had a good role for him in the team in the league and CAF Champions League. When Sibongiseni Mthethwa left us, there was a void in terms of a strong, hard-tacking central midfielder. We looked around and he fitted the profile we wanted and needed. He has shown exactly that. He is a hardworking, committed, no-nonsense midfielder, he wins his tackles and is comfortable on the ball enough to initiate an attack. He was left in the doldrums when he was released and without a club. Coming here, we have shown care for him and got him physically strong. His football ability was never in doubt and it's all coming together for him and he deserves it because he does a lot for the team.
On turning things around from last season
Last season at this time, we were fighting relegation, but we managed to turn things around because the January transfer window was good for us. The signing of Iqraam Rayners and Andre de Jong, they were massive reasons for the upturn in our form. On the 27th of January, we played against Cape Town City and we were 2-0 down and on the brink of going to the bottom of the log. We turned that game around and won 3-2. A week after that, we had the untimely passing of Oshwin Andries, we heard of the sad news after the match against Chippa United. But the addition of Iqraam and Andre helped and also for some of our youngsters, they had one more season behind them… Jayden Adams, Antonio van Wyk, Devin Titus, to mention a few. Athenkosi Mcaba has another one behind him and he is no longer a youngster in terms of experience. In age, they are still young but not in terms of number of games. I think those are some of the factors that have turned things around since February this year. Everyone reaches potential their certain way and Iqraam is one of those players who need love, care and attention, and he gets that in abundance. He got that when he helped us get promoted (to the DStv Premiership) and the first part of our season. He has always been a goal scorer, we just have to play him in a position where he is most effective. And allow him to do what he needs to do and create the environment that will allow him to succeed. It's also up to the player to push himself and reach that potential and he has shown that. He is very committed to Stellenbosch Football Club, he enjoys being here and is doing well for the team. It's his birthday today (19 December), hopefully he is having a good day. He has got enough money from Carling to enjoy.
On how he is feeling
On a personal note, winning this trophy is gratifying. It's a journey that one takes as a coach – it's full of ups and downs. Unfortunately, I have lost in the Final of the Nedbank Cup many years back, and I got two teams promoted from the NFD (National First Division, now Motsepe Foundation Championship), which is AmaTuks and Stellenbosch. Sometimes you don't reap the rewards at the beginning, you just have to continuously keep working hard and having belief and trust with the people I work with. It's very satisfying to win a trophy like this. Sometimes it takes a while, but now that we have done it, hopefully it can give us the confidence and belief to continue doing well. It's also satisfying to see the players being happy after winning a trophy.
Steve Barker,
Stellenbosch FC head coach
