Seaside Spurs’ coach Gerald Stober emphasized that he has seen enough positives not to set the alarm bells ringing following a winless display from their first two games of the Hollywoodbets Third Division campaign.
Spurs picked up their first point during a 1-1 draw against neighbours FC Hout Bay last week after losing out to Greenwood Athletic (0-1) in their opening encounter at Solo Street.
Stober, a cool, calm and collected individual by nature, told No Bones with Jones that he is not really fazed by the debutant’s slow start to the season.
“Look, this is not my first rodeo and It is exactly what I expected,” said Stober. “Part of our preseason discussions to the guys was that these things are going to happen and this is how other teams are going to play. Look, we can also play that way but it is not going to be sustainable and players are not going to enjoy it.
“People coming to watch, proper football-loving people are coming to watch and might not enjoy and appreciate what we dish up and that’s not part of our objectives. Of course we would like to win every game, but we need to play an attractive brand of football as well.
“I would want the players to express themselves in a way that I want them to play. I personally think it is a good thing we didn’t get off to a really good start because then our heads would have been in the clouds. I thought in the Greenwood game we did well but we didn’t take our chances early on otherwise it would have been a different story.
“The second game (FC Hout Bay) we were well in control and again we couldn’t put the ball into the net. In a lot of our games, even in the Nedbank Cup, we were behind and came back which tells me the character is there. I am trying to emphasize that it doesn’t matter what goes on or what the scoreline is, the players just need to play football, you know. That is our focus and what we train and to a certain extent, they are doing it.
“We are fortunate that we have video footage for our games and even for our training sessions. I showed them (players) one passage of play where we had 26 passes before we gave the ball away – and you don’t see it in this league. So, there’s an improvement.
Seaside welcomes Wanderers FC on Saturday to their home ground and Stober is optimistic the Third Division newbie will get the monkey off its back.
“Look, Wanderers blow hot and cold and you never know what to expect,” Stober pointed out.
“That aside, we need to show something for our hard work. Our aim is to get at least six points from our next three matches starting on Saturday.
“I need to stress that our conversation before the season started was never about winning the league. Retaining our status and ensuring that we give a good account of ourselves. So if we can stay with eight points or so from the top teams, I would be satisfied with a mid-table finish for our first season,” Stober concluded.
