Gavin Hunt has found a sympathiser in Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi after his sacking by Kaizer Chiefs.
Mngqithi believes Hunt was unfairly sacked by the club, despite a run of poor results.
When Chiefs fired Hunt, they were languishing in 11th position on the DStv Premiership table, having gone on a wretched run of form when they won only two of 16 league games.
They went on to win their last two without Hunt and qualified for the top eight.
But Mngqithi, who guided Sundowns to their fourth successive league title this campaign, feels Chiefs should have been patient with him.
“All I want to say is Gavin Hunt achieved something that Chiefs have never achieved before [leading them to the CAF Champions League semifinal] and he is out of a job,” Mngqithi told the media during Sundowns' celebration of four titles in a row in Mamelodi yesterday.
“It is a story about our football. We change because we are emotional at times. Gavin has won four [league] trophies. He plays a certain type of football and he wins trophies with that type of football. Stick with it. But if suddenly you say 'no, we are not happy with the style of football', then why did you bring the coach in the first place?
“You could not change him from what he has been doing over the years and worse, he could not even sign the players he wants to play the type of football that he wants.”
The 50-year-old also feels that it is about time Premier Soccer League teams started practising patience with their coaches and stopped rushing to fire them when results were not coming.
“Patience pays. Teams that are chasing coaches away are the ones who end up finding themselves having problems,” he said.
“Football is a team sport and it requires a little bit of the improvement of team dynamics and the development of those team dynamics. It is something that cannot happen over one, two months or three months.
“Any coach, even the one who is not competent, will do better when he is given a little bit of time. There is so much more you can benefit by giving coaches time and freedom to run the team.”
Mngqithi says Chiefs were wrong to sack Gavin Hunt
'He couldn't even sign the players he wants'
Gavin Hunt has found a sympathiser in Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi after his sacking by Kaizer Chiefs.
Mngqithi believes Hunt was unfairly sacked by the club, despite a run of poor results.
When Chiefs fired Hunt, they were languishing in 11th position on the DStv Premiership table, having gone on a wretched run of form when they won only two of 16 league games.
They went on to win their last two without Hunt and qualified for the top eight.
But Mngqithi, who guided Sundowns to their fourth successive league title this campaign, feels Chiefs should have been patient with him.
“All I want to say is Gavin Hunt achieved something that Chiefs have never achieved before [leading them to the CAF Champions League semifinal] and he is out of a job,” Mngqithi told the media during Sundowns' celebration of four titles in a row in Mamelodi yesterday.
“It is a story about our football. We change because we are emotional at times. Gavin has won four [league] trophies. He plays a certain type of football and he wins trophies with that type of football. Stick with it. But if suddenly you say 'no, we are not happy with the style of football', then why did you bring the coach in the first place?
“You could not change him from what he has been doing over the years and worse, he could not even sign the players he wants to play the type of football that he wants.”
The 50-year-old also feels that it is about time Premier Soccer League teams started practising patience with their coaches and stopped rushing to fire them when results were not coming.
“Patience pays. Teams that are chasing coaches away are the ones who end up finding themselves having problems,” he said.
“Football is a team sport and it requires a little bit of the improvement of team dynamics and the development of those team dynamics. It is something that cannot happen over one, two months or three months.
“Any coach, even the one who is not competent, will do better when he is given a little bit of time. There is so much more you can benefit by giving coaches time and freedom to run the team.”