Now, despite not saying it in so many words, the relief in Gerald Stober’s text messages suggests that the Santos head coach is delighted to have finally got the proverbial monkey off his back.
And who could blame him?
After all, Santos had endured three consecutive defeats and a winless start to Stober’s return to the club.
However, it appears the People’s Team may have turned a corner after grinding out a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Ikapa Sporting in their ABC Motsepe League Stream A clash at Ikamva on Friday evening thanks to goals from Riyaad Prout, Amilcar Moke and Suhayl Allie
“We are slowly building towards where we need to be,” Stober told No Bones with Jones. “The result is purely the outcome of the work put in by the players.”
While the victory will undoubtedly ease some of the pressure, Stober will be the first to admit that there is still plenty of work to be done, particularly at the back.
Santos have now conceded 13 goals in just four matches, a worrying statistic despite finally opening their account for the season. Their leaky defence was again exposed after cruising 3-0 with about 15 minutes to go when they allowed the home side to get back into the match.
The People’s Team also had what appeared to be legitimate goal, disallowed. Subsequently the visitors had two penalties calls disallowed and there appears to be video footage to prove this which caused a bit of controversy – especially when Santos were given a penalty by the AR but was later ruled out by the ref after consultation with his official.
One win does not make a season, but for Santos and Stober, it may just provide the spark needed to kick-start their campaign before the early struggles turn into a much bigger concern.
“We have a very young squad, so there will be many bumps and challenges along the way. But we’ll have to make sure that we build on this,” Stober concluded.
PHOTO SUPPLIED BY CONRAY SWAIL
RESULTS AND FXITURES COURTESY OF 4TH MOMENT
FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY
