SuperSport United should be fighting for PSL title in a few years – Tembo

The retired defender is keen to ensure that Matsatsantsa clinch the coveted trophy having won three successive titles between 2008 and 2010

SuperSport United head coach Kaitano Tembo says his side can only challenge for the Premier Soccer League (PSL) title in two or three years.

The Zimbabwean tactician has been coaching the Tshwane giants since March 2018 having initially taken charge of the team as a caretaker coach.

Tembo was then appointed permanent head coach ahead of the 2018/19 season and he led the team to the 2018 MTN8 final where they lost to Cape Town City on penalties.

“I always look back to where I started as the interim coach. I think when I took over, the team was in 14th, two points above relegation, and with only about seven games to go – and we finished seventh,” Tembo told Far Post.

“And the following season, when I was appointed full-time, we lost in the MTN8 final on penalties to Cape Town City and finished sixth in the league.

“And this is my second season, where we also got into the MTN8 final, and we won it [against Highlands Park], and we’re currently third in the league.”

Tembo joined Matsatsantsa in 1999 and he has served as a player, academy coach, first-team assistant coach and now head coach.

The 49-year-old worked under coach Eric Tinkler when SuperSport lost to DR Congo’s TP Mazembe in the 2017 Caf Confederation Cup final and he explained that they are rebuilding the team.

“So when I look back I see progress. And if you look at the team which I took over, to the team I have now, there’s a huge difference,” he said.

“A lot of players have left and we’ve brought in a lot of young players. For me, that’s what I look at if I want to judge myself.

“This season, I want to try and finish higher than we did last season. The team that got to the Confederation Cup final was very experienced, and most of those players are no longer with us.

“We are in a rebuilding phase, and it’s also made worse by the pandemic, and there are no budgets. So how I look at it is to bring in young players,” he added.

“This team can still improve and in the next two or three years, we should be fighting for the league. So we’re cutting the budget, and at the same time staying competitive.

“I can see that in the next two, three seasons, we will be able to challenge.”

SuperSport will be hoping to move up on the PSL standings when the current season resumes having been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic last March.

Tembo’s side is placed third on the league standings – four points behind second-placed Mamelodi Sundowns, who have three games in hand.

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