Tinkler scoops another PSL award
Cape Town City coach Eric
Tinkler won his second Absa Premiership coach of the month award of the 2016/17
season when he was voted as coach of the month for March 2017.
Bidvest Wits’ defender and captain, Thulani Hlatshwayo, walked away with the player of the month accolade, also for March.
Tinkler has guided his team to the top of the Absa Premiership standings with eight matches remaining. While the Citizens have surprised many observers with their consistent impressive league form that has seen them become surprise title challengers, the judging panel singled out Tinkler for having kept his player’s feet on the ground and remaining focused during this period.
During the block of fixtures that were judged on, City played some tough games in which they came out tops against Platinum Stars and Chippa United. They also registered an impressive home win over champions Mamelodi Sundowns and played to a draw away at Bloemfontein Celtic. The judges were impressed with how Tinkler has transformed the team and turned City into surprise title contenders and still performing admirably at the same time.
In as far as votes for the individual monthly player award is concerned, the Soweto-born hard tackling defender Hlatshwayo was closely followed by three in-form attackers; Lebogang Manyama of Cape Town City, Mohamed Anas from Free State Stars and Kaizer Chiefs’ Bernard Parker. The panel of experts singled out the Students’ man also known as Tyson for using defending as an art and his exceptional display on the field.
The judges also felt that the Bafana Bafana defender was the key man in consistently keeping the spine of the Bidvest Wits team solid and on several occasions became the shield in front of the goalkeeper because of his defensive qualities during this period, which saw his club concede only once in three outings. Hlatswayo also scored a goal during this period as the Students won twice against Bloemfontein Celtic and Platinum Stars, while they played a draw at Chippa United.
The Players and Coach of the Month awards were selected by a panel of judges made up of members of the broadcast media and football analysts and was convened by renowned local coach Farouk Khan.