Relieved that he had finally guided his side to a win after three successive defeats‚ SuperSport United coach Gordon Igesund found an opening to take a swipe at the media and his critics.

He suggested that the club’s recent poor run was being exaggerated‚ saying the hype around the quality in his team‚ which later turned into fault-finding because of the winless streak‚ had put Matsatsantsa under unnecessary pressure.

Igesund made his remarks following SuperSport’s narrow 2-1 victory over Polokwane City in the opening round of the Telkom Knockout Cup on Wednesday night.

The coach also revealed that winger Thuso Phala would no longer be continuing in his role as captain after the player said the responsibility was affecting his form.

“When you lose three games in a row‚ people think there’s trouble. In Europe‚ Manchester City have lost four games in a row [they’ve actually lost two]‚ and Chelsea are struggling. It’s one of those things in football. In the league [SuperSport are in 13th place]‚ all we need is one win and we are in seventh position‚” Igesund said.

“The negativity is coming from everybody outside‚ the newspapers and all that. If they want to write like that‚ it’s fine. We will prove ourselves because sometimes the criticism is good for the players to read and turn it into a positive. And winning against 10-men proved to a lot of people out there that this team is still fired up and wants to play. I know what I am doing‚ and there are signs of that.”

The four-times championship winner argued that SuperSport had their confidence back‚ which unwelcome news for his detractors‚ he said: “People get very excited when things don’t go well because there’s lots of things to talk about all the time.

“No need to panic. In every game we have played‚ we haven’t played badly. The guys have played with the same passion and desire‚ but just making silly mistakes.”

On Phala‚ who will no longer be skipper‚ he said: “I was speaking to a couple of players and I also said to Thuso I wanted to get more out of him. But he said he needs to focus on his game and his requested I relieve him of being the captain.

“I told him I was happy with my decision to make him captain even though his form has dipped a bit. He said it dipped because he is focusing on other things when he should be focusing on his game.”