AJAX Cape Town's five Absa Premiership wins in a row have silenced murmurs that Maarten Stekelenburg was not the right man to replace Foppe de Haan as coach at the start of the season. The odds were stacked against Stekelenburg when he joined. After finishing runners-up last season to league champions Pirates, Ajax lost four key players, including skipper Hans Vonk, who retired.
Thulani Serero left for Ajax Amsterdam, Sameehg Doutie headed to Pirates and Clayton Daniels, after a few league and cup games for Ajax CT this season, was signed by Sundowns.
Serero was voted the PSL's player of the season, was picked by his counterparts as the best performer and also walked away with best young player. Above all, the Bafana attacker was awarded with the footballer of the season accolade.
Seeing Serero, Vonk, Doutie and Daniels leave the team meant Stekelenburg would have to almost start from scratch rather than building on the legacy that De Haan had left.
"It was normal to try and find our feet again after losing four key players. As a new head coach, for the first time in my career, I had to get used to the team," said Stekelenburg, who came under fire when Ajax lost their opening league match against Platinum Stars.
The coach said all that changed with convincing wins against Bloemfontein Celtic (2-0), Golden Arrows (1-0) and Black Leopards (4-3) before the break.
Stekelenburg proves his pedigree
AJAX Cape Town's five Absa Premiership wins in a row have silenced murmurs that Maarten Stekelenburg was not the right man to replace Foppe de Haan as coach at the start of the season. The odds were stacked against Stekelenburg when he joined. After finishing runners-up last season to league champions Pirates, Ajax lost four key players, including skipper Hans Vonk, who retired.
Thulani Serero left for Ajax Amsterdam, Sameehg Doutie headed to Pirates and Clayton Daniels, after a few league and cup games for Ajax CT this season, was signed by Sundowns.
Serero was voted the PSL's player of the season, was picked by his counterparts as the best performer and also walked away with best young player. Above all, the Bafana attacker was awarded with the footballer of the season accolade.
Seeing Serero, Vonk, Doutie and Daniels leave the team meant Stekelenburg would have to almost start from scratch rather than building on the legacy that De Haan had left.
"It was normal to try and find our feet again after losing four key players. As a new head coach, for the first time in my career, I had to get used to the team," said Stekelenburg, who came under fire when Ajax lost their opening league match against Platinum Stars.
The coach said all that changed with convincing wins against Bloemfontein Celtic (2-0), Golden Arrows (1-0) and Black Leopards (4-3) before the break.
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