'I want hard work from everybody' - Benni McCarthy
Benni McCarthy and his coaching staff have started their planning for the 2017/18 Premier Soccer League season on Monday as he warned that he expects hard work from all of his players‚ no matter their status or reputation.
McCarthy returned to Cape Town on Friday and had his first day in the office on Monday along with assistant coach Ian Taylor and goalkeeper coach Calvin Marlin.
He has denied he will make wholesale changes to the way the team operated in their successful maiden 2016/17 campaign in the top-flight when they finished third and won the Telkom Knockout trophy under Eric Tinkler‚ who has since left for SuperSport United.
“They have got a winning ship here‚ so for me it is just about coming in and hitting the ground running‚” McCarthy says.
“But everybody knows that‚ as a coach when you inherit somebody else’s team‚ maybe the players don’t perform the same for you.
“You have got to know the players‚ the best and the worst of them‚ so I am going to have to assess them and see how going forward we can add to the success they had last season.
"I must just tweak a little bit and make them into a better team.”
Key for McCarthy is having completion for places and he says that past performances will count for little come the start of the campaign.
“Players have to be fighting for places because that’s how you get success.
"If players are get too comfortable‚ like they were first XI players and then the new season comes‚ and because they had success [the previous season] they expect [to be in the first team again] … it doesn’t work like that.
“I want hard work from everybody and harmonious competition for places.
The guys that have been part of this success are at an advantage because you know what they give you. If they work hard‚ the new guys are going to have to work harder to get the regulars from last season out of their places.”
McCarthy is 39‚ making him the youngest coach in the PSL at the moment.
He even played with the likes of Robyn Johannes and Aubrey Ngoma during his time at Pirates.
But he hopes this lack of experience is countered by a more modern way of thinking within his technical team.
“We are all young guys and we want to revolutionise modern day football. Players will be able to relate to us because we are not old school and are open to change.”
The City players return for the start of pre-season on Friday‚ bar Ngoma and Judas Moseamedi‚ who are on national team duty with South Africa at the COSAFA Castle Cup.
- TimesLIVE