There are two sides to Gavin Hunt and most of the players who have worked with him can attest to this.
There's the feisty side that we see on the touchline, which comes from an innate desire to win at all costs. With this feisty side, Hunt has clashed with a few players along the way, but of course that's part of the game. Then there's the witty side, the side that the public does not get to see as much as the players do behind the scenes.
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Hunt celebrated his 1000th match in charge as a coach on Sunday against Golden Arrows, a feat many can only dream of. In a world where young coaches are coming in with innovative ways of playing the game, Hunt has shown that he can keep up in an ever-changing game. Loadshedding may have ruined Hunt's 1000th match, but it can never steal the shine from what has been a great coaching career, with four league titles in the bag and a long list of young talent he's given debuts to.
One of his best spells, albeit it was short, was at Black Leopards in 2001/02, the club's maiden campaign in the top flight. Lidoda Duvha finished eighth that season and Coxwell Ratshivadelo, who was captain under Hunt, remembers how they gave the coach a Venda name.
"I am happy for him because I have never been coached by a coach like Gavin Hunt. When I arrived at Black Leopards, they had given me the jersey number five and Hunt refused. He said I should wear number nine because I was a striker. He also made me the captain of the team," Ratshivadelo said to the Siya crew.
"He was very funny. When we played a game on Sunday and we lost, he would make sure we have a braai on Sunday so that we could forget about the loss. We even gave him a Venda name. We named him Tshilidzi. As a white man in Venda, we thought we should give him a Venda name. He was at Leopards during a time where we did not have a training kit. We would all wear our own clothes. I wish he could have another 1000 games."
He moved to Moroka Swallows in 2002 and, while he was there, signed tall Senegalese striker Mame Niang, who went on to win the top scorer prize in 2005/06 with 14 goals. Niang also spoke exclusively to Soccer Laduma about Hunt's legacy.
"He came to Senegal to watch me and then I scored. He told me he wanted to sign me. When I came, I realised that I was going to deal with a crazy coach. I am stubborn person. I remember we were playing Chiefs at Johannesburg Stadium and Chiefs were leading at half-time. He came to the dressing (room) and he said 'you are giving me nothing. I give you 10 minutes. If you play like this, I am going to take you off'," Niang told the Siya crew.
"Then, I scored before those 10 minutes in the second half and then I ran to him, I said 'f#ck you'. Everybody was shocked. And then he said 'f#ck you too'. Instead of celebrating, we were swearing at each other. Mohammed Ouseb said, 'We brought a crazy West African who swears at Gavin Hunt'. What a character! I owe him a lot. It's no surprise he has reached 1000 games. I still keep in touch with him."
Retired striker Calvin Kadi, who worked with Hunt at SuperSport and at Wits, has explained to Soccer Laduma how it's important to be mentally strong when you work with the coach. Players who can't handle the outbursts don't always last. Kadi is now an analyst at Motsepe Foundation Championship side Upington City.
"In the 2014 Nedbank Cup final with Wits in Durban, I tore my ACL and upon arrival to team supper in a wheelchair, he said 'CK take two Heinekens son and the pain will go away and you should be ready for pre-season'. In 2007 July, we went on a pre-season tour in Australia with SuperSport. Gavin saw a tall swimmer. He went to him and asked 'Can you play football son?' The swimmer responded and said 'no, I'm a swimmer'. Gavin then said 'but can you at least score? I like you'.
"Working with him was amazing and challenging at the same time. He always demands nothing but the best effort. He's a coach that likes hard workers and mentally tough players. He'll say 'f#ck off, you not playing tomorrow'. How you deal with that requires a strong mentality and character, because to him it's never personal. All he needs is for you to redeem yourself and prove him wrong with a top performance. We are still in contact to this day. Last year he allowed me to come observe his training sessions."
Then there's Peter Petersen, a retired right back who worked with Hunt at Hellenic and Swallows. Together, they won trophies at Swallows, the SAA Supa8 and ABSA Cup.
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"I go way back with Gavin. He was the one who promoted me at Hellenic. He has not changed one bit. He stands for what he believes in. He won't change for no one and that's why he got to 1000 games. We won trophies as well at Swallows," Petersen told Soccer Laduma.
"There was a time when people broke into Japhet Zwane's flat and stole all his furniture while we were in camp. Gavin found out what happened. That Saturday, Japhet scored two goals. After the game, Gavin said to Japhet 'they must steal your furniture more often'. Somehow Gavin found out that Japhet bought that furniture at Morkels and he started calling Japhet 'Morkels'. It used to get Japhet mad."
It's clear that Hunt has made a big impact on the careers of many footballers who still keep in touch with him.
