McCarthy is now into his second season as a head coach after taking over the reins from Eric Tinkler at City last year, and following a respectable fifth-place finish in the league last season, earned his first piece of silverware as head coach after his side’s penalty shootout victory over SuperSport United in the MTN8 final.
After finding his feet in his first stint as a head coach, McCarthy seems to be growing in stature and ability – that’s according to his former international teammate and PSL analyst Fredericks.
“Benni is slowly moulding himself, and from what I have seen, he knows how to get players to play for him,” ‘Stiga’ tells snl24.com/kickoff. “He’s a player-coach, and now with his experience and will to win, he’s finding that grey area of how to be stern and how to apply the tactics. But at the end of the day, if you can’t make your boys play for you, you’ll lose it, so it’s about balancing tactics and getting your boys to play for you.”
Fredericks feels McCarthy’s close relationship with his players is an important attribute which has aided his relative success so far.
“You get different types of coaches – coaches who are tactically sound, coaches who are able to move with the times and study the game and do their coaching badges,” Fredericks says. “But the game stays the same – you can’t re-invent the game – the ball is round and there are two goals, you know what I’m saying? We’ve known for a long time that the best managers in the game are the guys that can get the best out of a player, and get your players to play for you.”
McCarthy will be hoping his charges respond positively ahead of this week’s double-header against AmaZulu following a draw and loss in their two league fixtures after the MTN8 final.
The Citizens face Usuthu in their Telkom Knockout Last 16 clash on Tuesday, before hosting the very same opponents in an Absa Premiership encounter at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.