Shaun Bartlett has returned to Cape Town Spurs as head coach, more than two decades after leaving the club as a player.
The 48-year-old Bafana Bafana legend arrives at the troubled Ikamva-based side as a replacement for Dylan Deane, who was sacked last week with the club down in 14th place, with just eight points from nine matches.
Bartlett started his career with Spurs in 1992 before leaving for the United States three years later. He returned for a loan spell in 1997 before going on to forge a successful career in Europe with FC Zurich and Charlton Athletic.
He has plenty of coaching experience, having led Golden Arrows to the First Division title in 2015, and has also worked at University of Pretoria. More recently he has had assistant coaching roles at Kaizer Chiefs, Bafana Bafana and TS Galaxy.
“I am excited about the appointment; it caught me by surprise having only left my previous employer not too long ago,” Bartlett told Spurs’ official website. “But I am very happy to be back in Cape Town and the prospect of working with the players and seeing how far we can push it to get back to the elite level where I believe the club belongs.
“There is good enough quality to get the club higher up on the table, firstly and secondly, no player or club becomes bad overnight. When you hit a stumbling block it is about having the mental strength and psychological capabilities to get out of it and that is what the players need to realise. We are not going to win every game, we just need to know how to bounce back and that is what we will be working on.”