Durban City chairman Farook Kadodia has run the rule over Gavin Hunt’s first three months as the head coach of the club as the Citizens prepare to welcome Kaizer Chiefs to the coastal city.
After conquering the Motsepe Foundation Championship and winning promotion to the Betway Premiership with coach Simo Dladla, Kadodia did what most club bosses usually do: bolster their technical team with a more experienced mentor.
While it’s still viewed as one of the cruellest and heartless things that comes with the thankless job, it is done to give newly promoted sides a better chance to survive in the big league.
Under the four-time league-winning coach, Hunt, City have made a strong start, fighting in the top half of the table.
After 10 outings, Kadodia’s side sits in fifth place on the log table with 15 points and trails leaders Mamelodi Sundowns by six points.
Speaking to Soccer Betting News, Kadodia commended Hunt and his technical team for a job well done since the start of the season.
“The important thing was to get the club stable. In this league, you cannot go to the halfway mark under 1.5 points per match, and I think we will have to achieve a target of 24 points before the break,” said Kadodia.
“And we know exactly that it is not easy, and I think the coach has done well to get the points where it matters the most.
“Getting points at Chatsworth is like gold for us, and we have collected 10 points out of 15 in Chatsworth, and that was excellent.
“We only have one more game at Chatsworth before the first round finishes, so the coach and the players responded, and we need to support them to ensure there’s continuity.”
Kadodia said they are going to encourage the coach to play football that supporters would love, and they will be willing to support Hunt with what he is going to need to carry out that mission.
City hunt for victory number five of the campaign against Chiefs at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Friday at 19:30.
The two sides are separated by just a single point, with the Glamour Boys being on 16 points from nine matches.
City announced early on Thursday that the tickets for the matches were almost sold out, with only 15 per cent of the tickets remaining.
Written by Sithembiso Dindi