After his touchline wrangle with his Orlando Pirates counterpart Jose Riveiro, Ernst Middendorp has implied no PSL coach has ever shown goodwill towards him, praising legendary coaches like Jürgen Klopp and Giovanni Trapattoni, among others, as some of his colleagues who respected him during his Bundesliga days.

Middendorp and Riveiro had a heated exchange on the touchline with strong words being heard as their sides played a 1-all draw in the league at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday. Relebohile Mofokeng put Pirates ahead in the 12th minute before Gadiel Kamagi's ferocious strike cancelled it out in the 76th minute to make sure spoils were shared.

Cape Town Spurs' Middendorp didn't really want to divulge what caused the spat, insinuating Riveiro provoked him. The German, who coached Arminia Bielefeld in the Bundesliga over three stints between 1988 and 2007, hasn't hidden that no PSL coach has ever treated him with benevolence, adding he only felt respected by legendary coaches like Trapattoni and Klopp when he was coaching in his native Germany.

"I don't know what it [his war of words with Riveiro] was about. It was a fantastic time when you had colleagues like Trapattoni, Otto Rehhagel, Franz Beckenbauer, Jürgen Klopp and so on, I can continue. I coached in the Bundesliga over years and I've never seen something like this, I don't know what it is but somebody [Riveiro] wanted a reaction and he got it,'' Middendorp stated.

"Colleagues being colleagues in the soccer industry in particular here in SA, it's not existing, let's be clear and very honest."

"Mazinyo" as Middendorp is nicknamed urged his troops to stay grounded after bagging a crucial point at Pirates, having had also won 2-0 at home to TS Galaxy last Sunday. The past few results have given Spurs survival hope, Middendorp insists they focus on one game at a time with Stellenbosch their next opponent away on Saturday.

"We must stay humble. We must not push ourselves into a comfort zone...if we do so, we will destroy our potential. We are very happy, good. In three days we have our next challenge with Stellenbosch,'' Middendorp said.