Gabuza fuelled by Hunt's criticism

The criticism SuperSport United striker Thamsanqa Gabuza received from coach Gavin Hunt earlier this season encouraged him to double his efforts.

Gabuza was criticised by Hunt when he missed a sitter in front of goal during their goalless draw against Orlando Pirates at Lucas Moripe Stadium, which would have seen the club win that match.

The striker didn’t join Matsatsantsa a Pitori for a pre-season following a hamstring injury.

Gabuza said he worked tirelessly to convince Hunt that he can be trusted again. “The problem is, I had a hamstring during the pre-season and I didn’t start with the team, but now I've recovered and I’m trying to score as many goals as I can for the team and help them,” Gabuza said.

“As a striker, I have to assist and score, that’s our job every time we play. It’s like working hard everyday, you must know your strengths. As you can see, I’m playing with the leading goalscorer, Bradley Grobler, who is always pushing me to work harder.

“As for coach Gavin, he has a winning mentality. His teams always have winning mentality, like [Bidvest] Wits and SuperSport before; he won trophies and he came back here with that mentality to win trophies again.

“He wants us to chase something out of nothing and we must play to win silverware. As a striker you must score or create, that’s your job to do all the time.”

Asked if he was responding to Hunt with his goal celebration each time he scores, the 35-year-old said that was a way to accept a challenge from the coach.

“Gavin is a good coach and he is different. When he is at training he is different from when we are playing official match...” he said.

“He is like a father or a brother and always demands more. He wants me to score goals and always encourages me to do something for the team."