Stellenbosch FC head coach Gavin Hunt admits there’s a certain level of relief they can plan for the rest of the season without the gruelling demands of CAF inter-club football.
Stellenbosch were eliminated from the group stages of the CAF Confederation Cup and since then have been knocked out of the Nedbank Cup by Golden Arrows – which bodes for a season without silverware and a proverbial reset for the club.
Having won the Carling Knockout Cup and reached the semi-finals of the continental competition, with a couple of top three four finishes in recent seasons, it’s been a surprisingly underwhelming campaign for the club.
Steve Barker’s exit to Simba SC saw Hunt land the role to steer the club as his successor, as the third ever coach in the club’s history after nearly a decade of Barker after Sammy Troughton’s short stint after their formation in the National First Division.
“I had a chat to the board before I came and I said, we’re second bottom of the league – this Africa, is fantastic but I need to have look at the players and in the next four games, I did that, I gave everyone a game,” Hunt said about their Confederation Cup exit.
“We didn’t do too bad actually, we didn’t score but we did okay… but it gave me a chance to look at everyone, I didn’t really know most of the squad. I know them but don’t really know what they’re all about and what they can do.
“So, we used the four games, well I did – with the knowledge of… obviously you want to do well, we were one victory away from being in the next round, but it certainly would have been a hinderance for us – in our squad, definitely.”
Stellies’ win over Chiefs on Tuesday moved them into 11th place and seven points off 16th placed Magesi who occupy the automatic relegation zone spot.
Did you know that the iDiski Times Digital Newspaper is completely free! Download it now by clicking the button below or fill in the form to have it sent to you every week.
