Cape Town - Cape Town Spurs coach Shaun Bartlett has been drinking at the trough of rugby knowledge to bolster his efforts to guide his National First Division (NFD) team to greater heights.
At the Nedbank Cup press conference this week, Bartlett spoke about his meetings with John Dobson, coach of the United Rugby Championship winners the Stormers, and Jacques Nienaber, the coach of the Rugby World Cup champions, the Springboks.
"Who better to talk to than those that have triumphed in their spheres? It was great to hear what made these teams champions," said Bartlett.
Spurs host fellow NFD outfit Baroka FC at the Athlone Stadium on Friday (start 3pm) in a last-32 round match.
Spurs are presently in third position on the NFD standings after a four-match unbeaten run. Baroka are lower down in 10th place and had a mere one win in their last four outings.
🚨A NEW JOURNEY AWAITS!🚨
— Cape Town Spurs FC (@CapeTownSpursFC) February 10, 2023
Cape Town Spurs vs Baroka❤️🔥
Athlone Stadium 🏟️
Nedbank Cup 🏆
3:00pm 🕒#CapeTownSpurs#UrbanWarriors#NedbankCup#OURYOUTHOURFUTURE pic.twitter.com/WU8ewVv0sA
Winning promotion to the top-flight league is Spurs’ ultimate aim and Nedbank Cup glory will fire up the players to attain that goal.
"The league is our bread and butter," said Bartlett. "For us, this season, the encouragement and the motivation are obviously to get to the top tier of South African football.
"But we also want to go as far as possible in the cup. Anything is possible. If we get a good run, you get a good draw, and who knows, you might find yourself in the final. And that will not distract us in any way from getting a promotion to the PSL."
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The Spurs brand is still trying to establish itself in the marketplace after the Ajax Cape Town franchise changed its name two seasons. Bartlett has fond memories as a Spurs player who won the BoB Save Super Bowl in 1995. During his heyday, Bartlett was a prolific scorer and is the second highest-scoring Bafana Bafana player behind Benni McCarthy,
“Ajax Cape Town is in the past, this is a new brand identity. I played for Spurs back in 1995 when we won the old BoB Save Super Bowl and this is what we are trying to reignite. Ajax Ceee Town is in the past and that relationship is no longer there. We've got to make sure we get this (Spurs) brand back to the top.”
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Bartlett confirmed he would make changes to his line-up for the Baroka clash.
“I’ll be resting quite a few key players," said Bartlett. “We will make some changes and allow players that haven’t had much previous opportunity, but I keep on saying is not a weaker team. It's not a second team.
"As a coach, I have always emphasised that everybody gets the same treatment. Everybody's got a great opportunity and if the new players do well, they might be in the starting line-up for the league again next weekend.”
Caption: Shaun Bartlett, the Cape Town Spurs coach and former Bafana Bafana striker. Picture: Herman Gibbs
@Herman_Gibbs