HANDS OFF TINKLER! Orlando Pirates produce a tactical master class in Egypt. And that's FINAL

The eternal caretaker: Eric Tinkler

RARELY has a successful continental campaign been so roundly condemned. Orlando Pirates astonishing trip to the CAF Confederations Cup final has confounded the Buccaneers’ one-eyed fans and stunned the media critics.

For months, the Ghost have haunted Eric Tinkler, the fall guy in a soap opera that has featured Roger de Sa and Vladimir Vermezovic over a torrid two year spell.

Ever since Irvin Khoza got rid of Ruud Krol just as he produced the first treble for Pirates, the Orlando giants have been weaving about all over the place.

Sure, Julio Leal and Augusto Palacios went on to claim a second treble (with a bit of help from one Benni McCarthy), then along came De Sa to engineer a run to the Champions League final which ended, as things normally do, in Egypt.

But Roger was never loved. He decamped to Cape Town and his assistant Tinkler played second fiddle to VV, the man who leaves players and fans in tears from Baragwanath to Belgrade.

When Khoza finally accepted the inevitable, Vlad the Sad was sent home and Tinkler took over as the eternal caretaker.

He pulled them out of the mire domestically and somehow managed to secure the Sea Robbers a place on the ship marked: Confederations Cup qualifiers.

And all winter, Tinkler has had to drag his weary men through the endless rounds of African football, with detoured flights and strange hotels, dusty training pitches and angry foreign crowds.

But against all the odds, Eric pushed in to the group stages and trailed Zamalek in to the semi-finals, a brand new innovation for the Confed Cup this season.

Now 45, Tinkler was a nuggety midfielder in the English top flight with Barnsley in his day. Unlike many South African coaches (and media analysts), he’s been there and played in Europe. While he struggled to produce results in the PSL, the African crusade went on…and on.

And so to the semi-final second leg at Suez on Sunday night. With Zamalek going out to Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel on Saturday, Al Ahly appeared to ignore the restrictions on the crowd and a lot more than the expected 2000 squeezed in to offer their support.

On the social networks, Tinkler was a dead man. A difficult first half had Pirates fans calling for his head. But hold on, said I, this is the plan. Even at 1-0 down, it was no disaster when half-time came.

I said he’d bring on Kermit Erasmus after 10mins and Tinkler did just that. Even though Al Ahly had scored a second goal, it didn’t matter. The crucial away goal on top of the 1-0 first leg win at Orlando meant that, when Erasmus scored his cracker not long after coming on, Pirates were in front.

And Al Ahly began to panic. They threw everything forward, trying to add to Malick Evouna’s brace. But it was Pirates who struck. Thami Gabuza’s deflected effort just about finished them off. Roving full-back Thabo Matlaba added a third.

And when Al Ahly scored their third, Thabo Rakhale, another shrewd Tinkler sub, popped up to make it 4-3 on the night, 5-3 on aggregate. Time up. 

When did ANY club score FOUR in Egypt? With Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs going out before the Group Stages in the African Champions League, this wasn’t just a tactical master-class from Tinkler, it was a BLOODY MIRACLE.

And suddenly the social networks were as quiet as Al Ahly’s “banned” fans. Sir Eric Tinkler, take a bow. The critics are well and truly confounded. Jaust glad I was never one of them!

Stekelenburg axed by Ajax in a week that was always going to be full of Double Dutch

Dutch too much: Maarten Stekelenburg is gone

MAARTEN STEKELENBURG’S umimpressive reign as head coach of Ajax Cape Town came to a grinding halt yesterday in what has been a distinctly dodgy week for Dutchmen in the PSL.

Even before compatriot Johan Neeskens was subjected to violent vuvuzelas after his Mamelodi Sundowns lost at Moroka Swallows on Sunday, Stekelenburg was vividly vilified by Urban Warriors fans in Cape Town on Saturday following a shocking 5-1 defeat at the hands of promoted AmaTuks. It was always going to be a week of Double Dutch.

Ajax CEO George Comitis told us on Saturday night: “We need cool heads, this is not a time to panic,” but he had changed his tune yesterday, telling the pen-wielding crowd assembled for Stekelenburg’s public execution: "As of today, Maarten is no longer our head coach. Sometimes you have to shake it all up. We needed to change before it was too late.

“It was a tough decision that we made over the past 19 games, we will find ourselves in trouble if we don't fix it now. We haven't decided on his replacement yet, we will look for someone with Dutch influence and SA experience."

Former Sundowns boss Hristo Stoichkov, Dutchman Ruud Krol and 1996 Afcon winner Neil Tovey are possible names to conjure with but the mother club in Amsterdam may have another obscure youngster or ailing veteran in mind.

Stekelenburg has struggled since he stepped in to the sizeable shoes of Foppe de Haan in 2011, a fact confirmed by Comitis, who said hopefully: "We would look at bringing back someone like Foppe, but we have no decision yet."

Former Head of Technical affairs and current chief scout, Jan Pruijn, get his chance to impress when he takes charge as caretaker against rock-bottom AmaZulu on Saturday. Wilfred Mugeyi will assist against the only side below Ajax in the current PSL standings.

Stekelenburg, just 39, was always a gamble. Cape Town was his first senior coaching post after an unremarkable playing career with  Dutch lower league sides SV Argon, SV Huizen and Amsterdamsche FC were followed by numerous coaching qualifications, a job at the Ajax academy in Amsterdam and a stint as De Haan’s youth development manager in the Mother City.

Comitis admitted: "Maarten lost the belief of the board. We believe were we need a more experienced coach because he is dealing with more experienced players. We have a three-year plan with the current squad.”

Exactly what that plan is remains unclear. In six games this season they had won once before Saturday’s Aubrey Ngoma-inspired hammering.

Neeskens, attacked at Dobsonville on Sunday, remains in place before Saturday night’s win-or-flee clash with Platinum Stars at the Lucas Moripe Stadium. General manager Kenneth Makhanya and Technical Head Trott Moloto issued a joint statement on the Sundowns website yesterday saying: "The issue of the coach's position with the club is hypothetical as it has never been discussed.

"Sundowns wishes to record that reports that he is facing the chop are without foundation, and management has given the coach full support to pursue the objectives of the club.

"No ultimatum has been given to the coach, or anybody, and Mamelodi Sundowns is confident that the club will turn the corner. Clubs the world over go through rough patches, but come out much stronger.”