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Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy questioned whether he is the right man to steer the Citizens following their 2-0 loss to AmaZulu in the Telkom Knockout last-16.
City recently won the MTN8, but are hovering above the Absa Premiership relegation zone on goal difference with seven points from eight games.
McCarthy did little to hide his frustration after the defeat to Usuthu at King Zwelithini Stadium on Tuesday, which came via goals from Emiliano Tade and Bongi Ntuli in Umlazi.
“Frustrated, frustrated for me, but that’s football for you,” McCarthy said at the post-match press conference.
“My players must get it into their thick skulls that this is a game that you trained for every day and come the weekend you play to win, not to play beautiful football to get fans and that. Beautiful football doesn’t get you nothing.
“I think it’s getting to that point where something’s got to give, changes have to get made or players, if they don’t take responsibility, get dropped.
“And management maybe needs to look at me and maybe analyse. Maybe I’m not fit to lead this team anymore because maybe something is not sticking when you see the players are making far too many mistakes. Maybe because I’m not … not the guy that they want to play for, I don’t know.
“I’m just throwing it out there. I’m just saying. I’m just saying (smiling). No, I think, days like this, games like this make you start to wonder what are you doing wrong. You can’t always analyse yourself every single time when something goes wrong. You look at yourself and you say, ‘Aaay, eish, I should’ve done this, I should’ve done that’.
“Meanwhile you have sleepless nights. You sit up all night watching and studying and trying to understand what’s the strengths and weaknesses of your team.
“So we as coaches, coaching staff, we see ideas, we sit up at 11, 12, 1, 2 in the morning exchanging messages and maybe what can we do here and change there, to make it comfortable and easier for the players.
“But every time it is the same outcome. It’s the same outcome. We design training; we design everything to their liking but it is the same outcome and now you start asking, ‘Hey, if it’s the same outcome every single time something’s got to give’.
“Maybe I’m, maybe I’m not the right person at this time … to lead this team.”
McCarthy, who is known for wearing his heart on his sleeve, later resolved to crack on in the hotseat, insisting he is not giving up.
City will revive hostilities with bottom-placed Usuthu in the Premiership at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
McCarthy guided the Citizens to a fifth-placed finish in the league and the TKO final in his first season as a head coach last term. — KickOff .
Online Reporter