Gavin Hunt is reading very little into the off-field problems that Bloemfontein Celtic are experiencing ahead of Bidvest Wits' Nedbank Cup first round match against the Free State side at Bidvest Stadium tomorrow (8pm).
From personal experience the Wits coach believes that administrative problems at a club can often not reflect on how a team will perform on a given day.
Celtic owner Max Tshabalala put the "for sale" signs up a few days ago on the club he only took over in July 2014, after his team's supporters reacted violently to a 1-0 PSL defeat against Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium last Saturday.
"In South African football you can't look at other teams' problems," Hunt said yesterday.
"It's like when we played against Chippa United [in a league match Wits won 3-1 in January], and we were told they didn't pay their players' salaries, and so on. But they fought like hell.
"I've been in football over 30 years in this country. Teams don't pay salaries and don't do this and that, but players still come and perform on the day. So we can't look into that.
"I think Celtic will be highly motivated to play and prove a point, and we've got to respect that."
Hunt - a three-time league winner with SuperSport United from 2008 to 2010 - clearly would like to win his first silverware in his third season at Wits.
Asked how he would define a successful 2015-16 for Wits, Hunt replied: "Improvement from last year. And you can't be judging it on cups. Where you judge a team is in the league, over 30 games, on consistency.
"Obviously personally for me, I want us to do better. But we've made history for this club. We've scored the most points this club has scored [56 in 2013-14]. So it's one step at a time.
"At the same time you've got to look at budgets, and at buying and selling and all these types of things. Journalists should be looking at that - who's got the biggest budget? We shouldn't be coming second. We should be coming sixth. We're overachieving."
Hunt last won a trophy in the 2011-12 Nedbank Cup, beating Mamelodi Sundowns 2-0 in the final. He reached the 2014 final with Wits, losing 3-1 to Orlando Pirates.
Wits circle Celtic warily
Gavin Hunt is reading very little into the off-field problems that Bloemfontein Celtic are experiencing ahead of Bidvest Wits' Nedbank Cup first round match against the Free State side at Bidvest Stadium tomorrow (8pm).
From personal experience the Wits coach believes that administrative problems at a club can often not reflect on how a team will perform on a given day.
Celtic owner Max Tshabalala put the "for sale" signs up a few days ago on the club he only took over in July 2014, after his team's supporters reacted violently to a 1-0 PSL defeat against Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium last Saturday.
"In South African football you can't look at other teams' problems," Hunt said yesterday.
"It's like when we played against Chippa United [in a league match Wits won 3-1 in January], and we were told they didn't pay their players' salaries, and so on. But they fought like hell.
"I've been in football over 30 years in this country. Teams don't pay salaries and don't do this and that, but players still come and perform on the day. So we can't look into that.
"I think Celtic will be highly motivated to play and prove a point, and we've got to respect that."
Hunt - a three-time league winner with SuperSport United from 2008 to 2010 - clearly would like to win his first silverware in his third season at Wits.
Asked how he would define a successful 2015-16 for Wits, Hunt replied: "Improvement from last year. And you can't be judging it on cups. Where you judge a team is in the league, over 30 games, on consistency.
"Obviously personally for me, I want us to do better. But we've made history for this club. We've scored the most points this club has scored [56 in 2013-14]. So it's one step at a time.
"At the same time you've got to look at budgets, and at buying and selling and all these types of things. Journalists should be looking at that - who's got the biggest budget? We shouldn't be coming second. We should be coming sixth. We're overachieving."
Hunt last won a trophy in the 2011-12 Nedbank Cup, beating Mamelodi Sundowns 2-0 in the final. He reached the 2014 final with Wits, losing 3-1 to Orlando Pirates.
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