Tinkler safe for now, says Bucs chairman

Khoza backs coach ahead of Soweto derby

ORLANDO Pirates will give coach Eric Tinkler their support and will soldier on, Buccaneers chairman Irvin Khoza said yesterday, though he did add the precautionary and perhaps ominous proviso, “for now”.

Pirates are battling in a dismal 11th place in the Absa Premiership at the halfway stage and speculation around Tinkler’s job has mounted, especially after the weekend’s 1-0 defeat against thirdlast Jomo Cosmos in Potchefstroom.

On Saturday, Pirates face Kaizer Chiefs in the Soweto derby, a match known to have made or broken the careers of coaches of both teams in the past.

Khoza said Pirates had struggled to recover from a gruelling run to the Caf Confederation Cup final. The Bucs chairman believes two continental finals in three years – Bucs also reached the 2013 Champions League last match – have finally taken their toll on the team.

“No team in the history of the PSL has ever travelled like we have and also come in [domestically] and performed,” Khoza said.

“We are saying, what are the corrective measures? You need introspection of how to correct some of the challenges we have faced from travelling into Africa.

“Travelling into Africa, we have never had this slump before.

“But we have been to two continental finals in three years. It’s very important to remain rational and give support to the coach.”

Khoza said he understood that fan passions ran high, especially when a big team like Pirates found themselves in the bottom half of the table.

“We understand that supporters want to win. They don’t analyse the game like we do. Because football is about emotions,” he said.

“We understand that they take it personally. But for now we are not going to take a game [the derby] into account.

“It depends on how the coach feels personally.

“But for us, we had a meeting with the coach and assured him of our support.

“And not only him, but the whole technical team. Because it is not only about the coach, it is about everybody involved.

“But for now we are saying, ‘let’s give him the support and we will soldier on’.”

Khoza was speaking at a ceremony at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in Sandton yesterday morning. The “founding fathers” of South African football – Khoza, Kaizer Chiefs chairman Kaizer Motaung and Jomo Cosmos owner Jomo Sono – opened the market at the JSE.

The Premier Soccer League (PSL), formed in 1996 from the National Soccer League (NSL), has been a financial success, its earnings going into the billions on the back of TV rights and sponsorship deals concluded in the last decade.

“Talking about 30 years since the formation of the NSL, it’s quite emotional for me because 30 years ago our income was R300 000 a year. Today it is over R1-billion,” Khoza, also chairman of the PSL, said.

“So you can see the strides we have taken. In 1985 there were no grants to the teams. In 1986, at the start of the NSL, grants were about R1-million a year. Today in the PSL clubs are getting close to R25-million a year.

“What was important was to understand the value of the property. Because it had been depressed, and we were underselling ourselves in the market place.”

The NSL broke away from the National Professional Soccer League in 1985.