SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt says the club’s management knows his “feelings” that he hates it when the best players are sold to opponents.
Hunts wants to build a team that will eventually catch Mamelodi Sundowns for the DStv Premiership title, with the Tshwane giants having won the last five league titles – mostly at the canter.
Sundowns, who are at the summit of the table, sitting seven points clear to Hunt’s side, have signed 17 players from SuperSport since the establishment of the league in 1996/97 season.
Again, SuperSport are linked with an exit of defender Luke Fleurs to Kaizer Chiefs, Hunt’s former club, and it is not clear whether he will be sold in the January transfer window or at the end of the season.
“You know my feeling in selling to my biggest oppositions,” said Hunt in Durban where SuperSport are in for the mini camp as they prepare for the resumption of the season post FIFA World Cup.
“It’s not that I don’t like it – it shouldn’t be.”
Hunt, since he returned to SuperSport at the beginning of the season, looked relaxed.
This was never the case when he was at Kaizer Chiefs and Chippa United respectively, as those challenging spells brought the tough period in his coaching history
As he was appointed by Chiefs in September 2020, he couldn’t finish the season, as he was sacked in May last year. Amakhosi were under threat to miss out on the top eight spot.
He was then appointed as Chippa coach at the beginning of last term. However, he didn’t last long – he was sacked in December last year by the Chilli Boys with only one victory of the 10 matches he was in charge.
With him back at SuperSport, the club he won three league titles on the bounce in his first spell, Hunt has taken the Tshwane giants to third spot with 21 points after 12 matches.
“I don’t want to go there. That’s gone now,” said Hunt when asked that he looked relaxed compared to when he was at Chiefs and Chippa.
He then added: “I’ll say one thing – a real famous coach said one thing and I don’t think I’ll mention his name, he said ‘do you think you can coach?’
“I said, ‘I’ll try’. He said ‘you can never coach until you are fired’. I have been fired twice and ‘now you learnt how to coach, my friend’. Do you understand what I’m saying? ‘Now you know’.
“Obviously this is a different environment; this is a different scenario I’m coming to. I know the club has changed completely when I was here, completely changed.
“People will say, ‘I know the club’ but it doesn’t mean anything because it is totally (different to the one I knew). Totally financially run differently, much tighter, which is fine and that’s why I accepted the job.
“So let’s see what we can do. Let’s bring in the youth and try to be clever in the market.”
Story by Robin-Duke Madlala (@duke_robin).
