Cape Town City were spoilt for a while‚ says club owner Comitis

Cape Town City “were spoilt” for a while and developed unrealistic expectations when Benni McCarthy began as head coach with five wins in a row‚ club owner John Comitis has said.

Life in the Absa Premiership seemed to come too easy for City with a third-placed finish and Telkom Knockout trophy in 2016-17‚ after Comitis bought the franchise of Mpumalanga Black Aces in the off-season.

It all seemed to come too easy for McCarthy‚ too‚ as the former Porto and Blackburn striker replaced Eric Tinkler and reached this season's first cup final in the MTN8.

However‚ defeat in that final on penalties to Tinkler’s SuperSport United was a start of four defeats‚ with three more following in the league‚ in succession for City.

There was a feeling that‚ as McCarthy got the season off to a flier with five wins in a row before City were stopped with defeats against Kaizer Chiefs then Orlando Pirates‚ many of the rookie coach’s early victories were opportunistically gained against the run of play.

“I would respond that (it) was the case at the start of the season.

"There were some results that we grinded out‚” Comitis said.

“But I would say that wasn’t the case by the time we played Chiefs‚ and wasn’t the case again against Pirates.

"We should have won both games convincingly.

“Perhaps people expected that Cape Town City would never lose.

"But of course that was going to happen at some stage.

“We are just another club like any in the PSL‚ with players trying to win in every game‚ and it’s tough.

“I think maybe we were spoilt for a while.

"But if the results [with our wins] from our first five games had been spread through all the 13 games‚ then we’d probably still be quite happy now.

“It’s only because those last four defeats have come back-to-back that they have been so noticeable.”

Overall City have won seven and lost six of their 13 league and cup games in 2017-18.

They will aim to reverse their three-match league losing run against Free State Stars at Cape Town Stadium this evening (kickoff: 7.30pm).