Former SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt has made his pick for the best XI players he has ever worked with during his storied coaching career.
Hunt left SuperSport last month following a spate of poor results but that was after celebrating a milestone of 1,000 PSL matches coached during a career that yielded four league titles and more trophies.
With that experience, Hunt has worked with many players but he was put to task to select those who would make his Ultimate XI, something that proved difficult but he pulled it off nonetheless.
“Andre [Arendse], Dennis Onyango, Ronwen [Williams] and Moeneeb [Josephs] if you look at Ronwen, where he has gone over the last few years, he has gone to the next level,” Hunt said on SuperSport TV, while picking his best goalkeeper among a host of legends he worked with.
“To get in that space of Ballon d’Ors and in my opinion, he should have kicked on and gone to Europe. Why I don’t know, maybe agents or contractual situations.
Veteran tactician on why Williams is tops
“Has he got another move in him? I think he will get a little bit stale where he is now, maybe he needs a move, where? I don’t know, but that is something for him to try and work out.
“So, I have to say, what he has achieved, he has not won the [Africa] Nations Cup or gone to a World Cup where Andre and these guys went, but in terms of what he has achieved, I would say Ronwen certainly,” he said, settling on the Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper whom he coached at SuperSport.
“Right-back, I would say Nazeer Allie was very good for me, left-back David Kannemeyer, centre-back Morgan Gould tops, he would score goals and Bongani Khumalo, we won a lot with them,” Hunt said of his picks in defence.
“In midfield [Jabulani] Mendu was fantastic at Swallows on the wings, [Elias] Pelembe and [Dane] Klate both goal scorers and providers, they would score eight nine goals a season and give you 10, 15 assists a season which is what you want.”
The veteran tactician then struggled to settle on his midfield pair before naming those who won over him more.
Who makes up Hunt’s best attack?
“The other midfield players are difficult. I coached [Fetsi ‘Chippa’] Molatedi, I thought he was fantastic. I would say Jabu and Chippa,” said the 60-year-old.
The veteran coach settled on a fearsome attack that included Bafana Bafana legend Benni McCarthy, whom he worked with at Seven Stars in the mid-1990s, and ex-SuperSport United forward Glen Salmon.
“Upfront I would say Benni [McCarthy] obviously and I would take Glen Salmon. He [Salmon] never got 100 caps for Bafana. He played 10, 11 years in Holland and got I think two caps or something.”
Hunt won three league titles and Nedbank Cup with SuperSport in his first stint from 2007-2013, led Bidvest Wits to three trophies, including a league title, and has also coached Black Leopards, Moroka Swallows, Kaizer Chiefs and Chippa United, having started with Seven Stars and then Hellenic.
Gavin Hunt’s Ultimate XI
Ronwen Williams, Nazeer Allie, David Kannemeyer, Morgan Gould, Bongani Khumalo, Jabulani Mendu, Fetsi ‘Chippa’ Molatedi, Dane Klate, Elias Pelembe, Glen Salmon, Benni McCarthy
