This past weekend Kaizer Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral had an unhappy reunion with the team he coached during the 2006-07 season, as Ajax Cape Town defeated The Amakhosi on Saturday evening in Tshwane.

The Chiefs coach will be looking forward to a better time when he leads The Amakhosi out when they face Swallows in their Telkom Cup opener on Saturday night. Swallows are being lead by Ian Gorowa, the man who worked as Ertugral’s deputy at Ajax Cape Town.

Together the pair lead the Urban Warriors to last years Telkom Cup Final where they eventually lost to Silver Stars. While they have remained good friends, Muhsin Ertugral would like nothing more than for a Chiefs win against his student Gorowa.

The two coaches came face to face on Tuesday afternoon in Johannesburg when they met at a coaches Caucus at the PSL offices. Things might have been warm given their past relationship, but all that will be on the back burner when Chiefs host their rivals from across Soweto.

Ertugral weary of Birds

The Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral reiterated his thoughts from a week ago when Chiefs were initially drawn to face Swallows in the Telkom Cup, and again said that he felt Chiefs were given one of the toughest draws of the opening round.

“With the kind of football being dished out by both us and Swallows, we should not be in the positions on the log that we both currently occupy. Swallows are a very competitive team but we need a turn around in our fortunes and the best way for us to get our momentum going again would be to win on Saturday and move onto the quarterfinals. A good cup run will help us get our league campaign back on track.”

Ertugral ceremony aside

Muhsin Ertugral and Ian Gorowa sat side by side on the stage on Tuesday and every now and again shared a few words. It is clear to see that the two coaches, given the fact that they worked together last season, still have a very strong bond and while Ertugral praised his former assistant, the Chiefs coach made it clear that his team have one instruction for Saturday’s encounter.

“Our friendship will not be put to the test on Saturday, it will just temporarily be forgotten about as our teams do battle. In football there is no time to be sentimental, we want to win the game and over all our aim will be to lift the cup.”

Gorowa hopeful

On the other end, Swallows coach Ian Gorowa, has aims of grandeur as he hopes to put one over his mentor Ertugral on Saturday. The Swallows coach said that he was concerned at having to come up against Chiefs so early in the competition.

“We started the league with a win but have since played a draw and had three loses on the trot. Obviously we want to change that this weekend against Chiefs. It will not be easy as Muhsin has a strong team who although they have not won many matches seem to be gelling well together and look to me like they are on top of their game. We have the experience of players like Alton Meiring and Sandile Ndlovu to count on. Lets hope they can carry us through on Saturday.”