MNINAWA NTLOKO: Middendorp lost his rag even before Amakhosi dropped the cup
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A colleague recently received a stinging rebuke from fiery Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp that left him simultaneously bemused and amused. The combustible German mentor was apparently unimpressed with my colleague’s stinging examination of his at times perplexing approach to the game during the business end of the season.
The incredibly candid Durban native with the bohemian ponytail thought it fit to share his honest views. Now let’s get this straight, I’ve known my colleague for yonks and the most dishonest opinion he’s ever offered in the years I’ve known him was telling Sunday Times sports editor Bareng-Batho Kortjaas that he’d lost weight in all the right places after the Christmas break, and informing mop-haired ex-boss Simnikiwe Xabanisa that he was a snappy dresser and should have been on the cover of Vogue magazine.
Suffice to say, the notoriously fiery Chiefs coach was not amused when the analysis of his regime came to his attention and he saw it fit to fire back a retort. The hack was initially stunned when he saw the communiqué, and after he had digested the insulting tone of the German’s pen that morning, he sat up and quietly articulated his thoughts in a more measured manner.
But while my colleague likes to see the funny side of things and laughed off Middendorp’s very personal missive, the reality is it gave hint to a bigger problem. The fact is Middendorp cannot deal with criticism and has such a thin skin that he is willing to sacrifice anything to make his point when someone has the temerity to challenge him.
Maiden title
Put yourself in my colleague’s shoes: the coach of a wildly popular club that is in a commanding position to win a first league title in five years is so annoyed with a story written by a lowly journalist in Johannesburg that he sees fit to communicate his unhappiness to the prickly hack at all costs.
It doesn’t matter that it could potentially cost him a maiden league title as a coach in all his years on the bench. It also seemingly doesn’t matter that it could cost him the unique bragging rights of telling future generations that he won a league title on the 50th anniversary of one of the biggest clubs on the continent.
Hell no, clearly none of this matters when a lowly journalist challenges him and it makes perfect sense ...
The incredibly candid Durban native with the bohemian ponytail thought it fit to share his honest views. Now let’s get this straight, I’ve known my colleague for yonks and the most dishonest opinion he’s ever offered in the years I’ve known him was telling Sunday Times sports editor Bareng-Batho Kortjaas that he’d lost weight in all the right places after the Christmas break, and informing mop-haired ex-boss Simnikiwe Xabanisa that he was a snappy dresser and should have been on the cover of Vogue magazine.
Suffice to say, the notoriously fiery Chiefs coach was not amused when the analysis of his regime came to his attention and he saw it fit to fire back a retort. The hack was initially stunned when he saw the communiqué, and after he had digested the insulting tone of the German’s pen that morning, he sat up and quietly articulated his thoughts in a more measured manner.
But while my colleague likes to see the funny side of things and laughed off Middendorp’s very personal missive, the reality is it gave hint to a bigger problem. The fact is Middendorp cannot deal with criticism and has such a thin skin that he is willing to sacrifice anything to make his point when someone has the temerity to challenge him.
Maiden title
Put yourself in my colleague’s shoes: the coach of a wildly popular club that is in a commanding position to win a first league title in five years is so annoyed with a story written by a lowly journalist in Johannesburg that he sees fit to communicate his unhappiness to the prickly hack at all costs.
It doesn’t matter that it could potentially cost him a maiden league title as a coach in all his years on the bench. It also seemingly doesn’t matter that it could cost him the unique bragging rights of telling future generations that he won a league title on the 50th anniversary of one of the biggest clubs on the continent.
Hell no, clearly none of this matters when a lowly journalist challenges him and it makes perfect sense ...