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Ertugral fumes after Derby win
25/07/2008 07:35 - (SA)
Port Elizabeth - Kaizer Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral fired a broadside at Orlando Pirates and Seychelles referee Eddy Maillett after a number of crunching tackles went unpunished during Amakhosi's thrilling 2-0 win over Bucs in the Vodacom Challenge Derby played at the ERPU Stadium on Thursday night.
Ertugral pulled no punches at the media briefing at which new coach Rudi Krol sat next to him.
Stormed an angry Ertugral: "I could not believe my eyes when the second half started and my players getting kicked all over the pitch for the opening 20 minutes. It was disgraceful and embarrassing. This type of behaviour from Pirates is not acceptable. Tackling like that has nothing to do with football."
The Turkish born coach was jumping up and down like a jack in the box while tackles on strikers Jose Torrealba and Kaizer Motaung junior, who each scored, went unpunished by the match official who started the match nearly 10 minutes late and somehow found more than an extra five minutes at the end of the game when the contest was well and truly over.
Torrealba won the hearts of Amakhosi fans by scoring his goal after 14 minutes in his first Soweto Derby. Motaung made it safe when he scored goal number two in the 54th minute.
Chiefs' win was well deserved. They were the better side on the night and Amakhosi have earned the right to play English and European champions Manchester United in the Challenge final at Loftus on Saturday. Kick-off is at 15:30. The match is sold out.
Krol ignored Ertugral's outburst. The two coaches did shake hands after the conference but the battle lines for the season have been drawn.
I am not worried
Krol admitted his side were not organised but fell back on the tried and trusted excuse that he has not had enough time with his players to mould them into something that looks like a half decent Pirates team.
"We have been together for only 12 days and have another three weeks to prepare for the start of the PSL season. So I am not worried. We will be in good shape when the proper PSL action starts."
But he will need to work on his defence and his ineffectual midfield where star player Teko Modise never had a look in and was substituted in the second half.
Krol, the former Dutch international captain and tough-as-teak defender added he was not worried about the fact that Pirates have not scored a goal in either of their Challenge games this week.
A Bucs reserve team was beaten 1-0 by a watered down United in their Challenge showdown on Tuesday night in Durban. Last Saturday Chiefs held a full strength United to a 1-1 draw at Newlands in Cape Town.
Said Krol: "If we were not making chances I would be worried. But the goals will come. He also said he saw good and bad in Pirates play. But he refused to elaborate other than to remark: "This is exhibition stuff to help me prepare for the new season."
Snub
In a week Krol has become unpopular. He is prickly when questioned and has a habit of not giving full answers to media. He also ducked out of attending a pre-match press conference in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday afternoon saying he "does not do pre-match conferences."
That type of snub could not have gone down well with Ertugral and Chiefs management. Ertugral goes out of his way to assist the media.
Krol played his reserves against United and a completely new 11 players took the field against Chiefs. The tactics backfired. The top players like Modise, Benson Mhlongo, Moeneeb Josephs, Josephy Kamwendo and Excellent Walaza did not play in the "reserves" against United and have lost the chance of playing against some of the best players in world soccer.
Apart from not being organised, Pirates battled to pass the ball properly. They gave away possession far too much especially in the first half. They are also vulnerable to set pieces.
But Ertugral did his homework and was justly rewarded. He said: "We played the counter attacking game. We closed them down. That was how I planned it and my players stuck to the game plan and we won. Now we move onto the next level."
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