Former Chippa United and Maritzburg United head coach Vladislav Heric says Saturday's Carling KnockOut final proved why it is important for clubs to give coaches long-term contracts.
Stellenbosch FC won the inaugural cup competition after defeating TS Galaxy FC 5-4 on penalties at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
This was the first-ever major cup title for the Western Cape-based club.
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"If you look at the top of the log table you will see that most coaches are the long-lasting coaches on the bench," Heric tells KickOff.
"If you keep your coach on the bench, the results will come. But those guys who change their coaches often are at the bottom of the log table. On Saturday, I was very glad to see two long-lasting coaches Steve Barker and Saed Ramovic coming up against each other in a cup final.
"Steve is a very good coach, and also Saed. Galaxy, they are a very good side, they were just unlucky.
"Playing in the final is already a success for both teams. Steve has assembled a very young team and once they grow up together they going to be very dangerous.
"Galaxy, they are also very strong when you look at Samir Nurkovic and the other guys. So both teams deserved to be in the final yesterday. It could have gone either way.
"You know the story of the penalty shootouts, this is a wake-up call for all of us in football, especially the people who are pulling the ropes in our football to give coaches enough time," he added.
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"Steve Barker, Saed Ramovic... It's not by fluke that they were in the final. I think that's the reason they were in the final."
The Carling KnockOut champions will next visit Sekhukhune United at Peter Mokaba Stadium on the 22nd of December 2023, while Galaxy will visit Lamontville Golden Arrows on the 23rd.
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