Benni McCarthy’s ‘beginner’s luck’ in danger in round two against Wits

Benni McCarthy puts his fine start to life as a coach down to “beginners luck”‚ but knows his 100 percent record will have a severe examination when Cape Town City host Bidvest Wits for the first leg of their MTN8 semifinal on Sunday.

City have already beaten Wits this season having claimed a fortuitous 1-0 league success last Friday at Bidvest Stadium‚ a game in which the Clever Boys missed a penalty and a host of other chances.

Indeed‚ City have won all three games they have played so far in the campaign ahead of Sunday’s semi at Cape Town Stadium – a 1-0 home success over Polokwane City in the MTN8 quarters to go with league wins over Wits (1-0) and Platinum Stars (3-1).

“Beginners luck‚ I think?” McCarthy said when probed on the secret to his success‚ half-seriously.

He continued: “No‚ we have got a nice squad‚ we have got a good coaching team and we are all ambitious. Our approach with the players is not as rigid‚ we want them to have the freedom to enjoy themselves‚ but in a structure of the system we want to play.

“The style and the discipline we want‚ as long as they do that … I just want them to have fun‚ to play with a smile on their face and then things will come.

“There is enough quality there to match the opposition. We can match teams in terms of the pace of the game and the intensity‚ then with the quality‚ we are over-loaded.

“I’m super-happy for the players because they are the ones who go out there and perform‚ and then we (coaches) take the glory.”

McCarthy eased fears that influential captain Lebogang Manyama had picked up an injury in Wednesday’s home success against Platinum Stars after he was replaced at half time.

“There was no injury‚” McCarthy said. “I was contemplating taking him completely out the team (before the game). But then you make things a bit easier for the opposition when they see no Lebo Manyama and no (Lehlohonolo) Majoro.

“So I just felt that I would keep a player there that means they would not want to risk bombarding forward‚ and they would need to take a more cautious approach.

“At half time‚ when I saw how it was going with the pitch being very heavy‚ I thought I had seen enough and that we had enough out there‚ so I decided to take him out. There was nothing really in it.”

Wits have made a slow start to the new season‚ with two draws and that defeat to City.

They will have coach Gavin Hunt back in the dugout after he missed the last two games with suspension‚ while there could also be a return for Montenegrin defender Slavko Damjanovic following his early red card in the season-opener against Lamontville Golden Arrows.

It is unlikely that Egyptian centre-forward Amr Gamal will make his debut as the club waits for his paperwork to be completed.

There could‚ however‚ be a first start for Steven Pienaar on the plush Cape Town Stadium pitch that will be perfectly suited to his intelligent passing game.

- TimesLIVE