Cape Town City coach Muhsin Ertugral has slammed suggestions he is out of touch with the local game following a poor run of results in the Betway Premiership.
Ertugral was brought in by the Citizens as a replacement for Eric Tinkler this season and started his tenure with wins over Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.
He subsequently won the Coach of the Month award for November but has since seen results hard to come by.
City are currently on a three-match losing streak and most recently lost 2-1 to Pirates on Saturday.
Haashim Domingo opened the scoring for the Citizens at the Orlando Stadium after 21 minutes.
Tshegofatso Mabasa levelled with 67 minutes played before Goodman Mosele secured all three points with his 87th minute winner.
The result left City in 10th place with 21 points from 19 games, as the Buccaneers occupy second place with 36 points from 15 matches played.
When questioned about his credentials, Ertugral, who will become City’s Technical Director at the end of the season, said on iDiski Times: “I was on the head [of technical] of the Turkish national team, do you think that I’m not on the same line of international football? I may not have been directly on the field, but I was very much involved in two European championships, World Cup qualifiers, with the best players in the world.
“So that means I’m out of the game? That question I think is a bit bias, unbelievable. Which coach that comes to the PSL (Premier Soccer League) from overseas has come from a national team. There are some stripes here. Google a bit back, there’s seven trophies in my cabinet.”
Ertugral has previously coached Kaizer Chiefs, Ajax Cape Town, Golden Arrows, Mpumalanga Black Aces and Maritzburg United in South Africa.
He continued: “Seven trophies, so I can lecture a bit, I was doing that for the Turkish national team, I was not out of the game, I think this was disrespectful what you said.
City next play AmaZulu at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Sunday.