Citizens looking straight at the drop

Herman Gibbs

Unheralded Sekhukhune United piled on the misery for Cape Town City with a 1-0 win this past weekend, which saw the Cape side drop to 13th place, just two points clear of the relegation play-off zone.

It is hard to believe that City, one of the Premiership's biggest spenders in the off-season, are faring so poorly, having won only two of their eight Premiership matches this season.

Not too long ago, City chairman John Comitis announced that the club would give away 10 000 tickets free of charge for the next eight matches at Athlone. At the time, he reminded fans that the club had bought 11 players to strengthen the team to do justice to their unstinting support.

Comitis added that the club was unhappy with a "mediocre" fifth-place finish, referring to last season's final log position when Sekhukhune pipped City to the fourth place, although both teams finished on 45 points. However, Sekhukhune had a superior goal difference.

Now, City are lingering in a lowly 13th place in the 16-team league, just two points clear of the relegation play-off zone. This must be a staggering blow for Comitis, who seems to have gone to great lengths to prepare the team for the season.

Coach Eric Tinkler must be going through hell, as he is acutely aware of the aspirations of club boss Comitis. He has often referred to City as an ambiguous club. After this poor run of results, he will be in the firing line, as he is the key football decision-maker at the club, both on the training ground and during a match.

Comitis, an astute and successful businessman, is not one to dilly-dally with issues. If he decides to dismiss the coach, he’ll do so calmly and diplomatically. In 2019, Comitis fired City's coach Benny McCarthy after the team had won one game nine matches into the season.

Now that the club is hovering on the fringe of the relegation zone, it might be the cue for Comitis to make a change by relieving Tinkler of the head coach’s role.

Comitis' appreciation of the passion shown by the club's fans may also influence his thinking, and he would have noted the vitriol the fans were spewing on social media platforms after the loss to Sekhukhune. Many fans called for Tinkler to resign, while others appealed to Comitis to dismiss the coach.

It might be a stroke of luck for Comitis because if he starts looking for a new coach, McCarthy, the former striker coach for Manchester United, is available and presently in South Africa.