Stellenbosch FC head coach Gavin Hunt explained the difference between when he started as a coach 25 years ago and how recent coaches are changing the game, stating that they are ruining the football game.
Hunt is a stalwart of South African football and has won four league titles in his career, making him one of the best coaches in the country; he has also developed many players.
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Many people have been referring to Hunt as an outdated coach who doesn’t look at football data and analysis.
The veteran coach spoke to the media after their 1-1 draw against TS Galaxy at Danie Craven Stadium, stating that when he started as a new coach, he never spoke about modern football, but current coaches speak a lot about it.
He went so far as to say they are ruining football because of their dependence on laptops.
“So, when I came into football, let me put it this way, I’m talking coaching now – Eddie Lewis, Jeff Butler, Clive Barker – so when I came in, did I bring modern football?” Hunt told the media.
“All the young coaches coming into the game now, I’m old now, they say they bring modern football and I’m outdated.
“But when I came into the game with Jeff Butler, Eddie Lewis, Clive Barker, Ted Dimitru, Gordon Igesund, I came after them. I was the next guy. Then Pitso and all those guys came way after me, 3 or 4 years. Very good Viktor Bondarenko.
“So, I never brought anything useless. Well, I play modern football now. Which happens now because some guy sits on the computer or laptop and he’s a modern footballer, you know?
“And these people are ruining the game. They ruin the game because a lot of judgment’s been made from laptops and there’s no feel, no smell, no eye to see what it needs.
“Because that laptop’s not going to tell you to make a change now, five minutes to go. Do we stick or do we go? Do we go with two strikers? You know what I’m saying? And there’s too much of that going on in football and it’s destroying the game.
“Because a famous coach always told me, go watch a man work on the training ground, then you tell me if he’s a coach or not. How he prepares his team from Monday to Friday?
“So, if you were to come to my team, how are we preparing from Monday to Friday? What scenarios are we doing? What situations? Not just generic stuff.
“So, the game of modern footballers has lost. Football’s going to lead data, data can’t lead football. And do I look at data? Yes. Am I conscious of it? But my eye will tell me. That guy made 10 crosses and 8 were behind the goals.”
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