Mpumalanga Black Aces Football Club has commenced preparations for the new Absa Premiership season with a Statement of Intent.
AmaZayoni officially unveiled Muhsin Ertugral as the new coach to lead the team’s technical vision. Ertugral’s appointment came after a rigorous consultative process by Aces management. The two parties agreed on a two-year contract.
Club chairman Mario Morfou says: ”We have undertaken a thorough selection process and we all agreed that Ertugral is head and shoulders above the rest.
”Our league is extremely competitive, hence our decision to appoint a coach of his calibre, because of his comprehensive knowledge of South African Football.
”Ertugral is a tactician of note and his high performance coaching expertise relating to the youth is in line with the club’s vision. The core of our technical vision is to achieve great success and the head coach is central to that plan.”
The chairman also thanked former first team coaches Clive Barker and Jacob Sakala for their contribution during a season that ended with Aces finishing 10th on the PSL log standings.
He says both coaches will continue to play a meaningful role in the technical development of the Aces brand.
Ertugral says the club’s professionalism and football infrastructure have influenced his decision to join Amazayoni, considering there were other offers on the table.
His immediate task is to stabilise the team, by uniting everyone under a common vision.
“We have already completed and submitted our two-month plan to management,” he explains.
”We will commence our pre-season training on June 8, 2015.
”Our aim is to compete while playing an attractive and entertaining style of football and we will, in the process, introduce youngsters, in order to grow our own base of players; we believe that there is no future without the youth.”
The vastly experienced Ertugral has won several trophies with various teams in the PSL, and has a proven track record of adequately preparing young players for high performance, an attribute that gained him world recognition.
Ertugral is leaving South Africa on Tuesday, to join his peers at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, in New Zealand.
“I have a project of international importance to fulfil before I start the preseason with Aces,” he says.
”I’m a member of the FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) that will conduct analyses of matches at the U-20 FIFA World Cup.
”It is a six-week assignment that will channel my focus ahead of a tough PSL season.”
