Seaside Spurs’ head coach Gerald Stober says he is rather impressed with his players’ “streetwise” abilities and capabilities.
The former Bafana Bafana player opened up on how happy he is with the fact that he has a solid platform to work from with his new Third Division outfit in Spurs.
Stober, who has coached at a higher level in the Second Division, and many other top football academies, recently returned to his Ocean View hometown to give back to a community that is very dear to his heart.
The 54-year-old former Orlando Pirates striker admitted that he is extremely grateful for the players from Ocean View that he has at his disposal.
Stober explains why: “Well, I don’t have to worry about their technical abilities as they are pretty decent for the level,” Stober acknowledged.
“I think some of them can even play higher up and that is my honest opinion. But I suppose that is what you get because Ocean View is community-based.
“A lot of the guys grew up playing soccer in the streets. They still play soccer in the streets of Ocean View because the community allows for that, and I don’t think you see that in many other suburbs.
“And you can’t teach kids or footballers to be streetwise, you know, it just has that… and that is what you grow up with to survive on the streets. You need to stand on your own and kind of need to learn things that you wouldn’t learn at an academy.
“And that is a fact, and I can tell you straight, academies will never be able to get or coach that kind of talent because that just can’t be coached, you kind of grow up with that.
“And from that perspective, I am very grateful for my crop of players because they just have that ability. Their first touch, their technical ability on the ball… I don’t have to worry about that, you know.
“I know when I was coaching in the ABC (Motsepe League) some of the kids who came out of academies just couldn’t understand when you told them certain things, but these guys just know it instinctively.
“So now I don’t have to focus on their technical ability because I don’t want to go through things like how you control a ball, this is how you pass and things like that, as the players I have are gifted with that. “Whether the people before coached that with them I am grateful for that because that is what I ended up with. So, I am happy with that.
“Having worked with Seaside for a couple of weeks now, coupled with a few friendly matches under his belt, Stober is of the opinion that his players make his job a bit easier, and it allows him to focus on other aspects of their play.
“Tactically they are a little bit naive – like knowing where to be when we don’t have the ball or this is the shape when we have the ball in certain parts of the field. That is where I can add my value in terms of being a coach and how we want to play,” Stober further added.
With his players’ praises sung, Stober’s true test will come on 28 October when they travel to Heideveld for a Nedbank Cup Round of 16 tie against Goal50 United.
The ex-Hellenic goal poacher will surely rely on his former PSL stars and season campaigners such as Franklin Cale and Diego Brown who have seen it all in their careers as pro players.
“Because of their experience they add calmness during play, and I have watched them at training… their thinking is just a little different compared to the others. They have been around the block so to speak.
“They have picked up these little tips and whatever it is from various places, and they are definitely above…we are blessed with central midfielders, and I got so many there that are really good and when I say good, if I was coaching higher in the ABC (Motsepe or NFD (First Division) they could seriously be contenders for making those sides, you know,” Stober concluded.
