OPINION – Hunt axe shows SuperSport had no room for sympathy

When Gavin Hunt was officially fired on Friday by SuperSport United, it confirmed the second of two very different exits at Matsatsantsa for the well-travelled coach.

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In May 2013, it was Hunt who quit as Matsatsantsa head coach, having just signed a deal with Bidvest Wits.

Hunt could leave with his head held high. He had transformed the fortunes of SuperSport, winning three league titles in a row between 2007 and 2010, as well as the Nedbank Cup in 2012.

Hunt sacked

This time, however, it is SuperSport who have taken the decision to show Hunt the door. With SuperSport sitting in 15th place in the Betway Premiership, the spectre of relegation is looming large.

It could be argued that Hunt’s long relationship with SuperSport should have afforded the 60 year-old more time to turn their fortunes around.

Hunt’s second spell at SuperSport, since arriving in 2022, had not reached the heights of his previous efforts.

SuperSport did, however, finish a respectable third in the Premiership in his first season back at the helm. They were seventh in the league last season, enough to qualify for another MTN8. There is also the fact that the landscape of South African football has changed so much since Hunt quit SuperSport in 2013.

Sundowns dominance

Mamelodi Sundowns’ dominance of the Premiership has moved to another level, with Masandawana currently odds on for an eighth consecutive league title.

The problem for SuperSport, however, is just how badly it has gone for Hunt and his side this season. It is fair to say that SuperSport simply cannot afford to get relegated. Matsatsantsa have constantly denied rumours over the years that the club is up for sale. But like so many clubs in the country, they are walking a financial tightrope.

“The financial landscape in the PSL at the moment is an extremely stressful environment. The costs of retaining players and running a franchise is very, very high,” said SuperSport CEO Stan Matthews in an interview with the SABC in 2023.

“Even if I took all the sponsorship money of iKhokha, Johnsons, and Huawei, and I bundled it all together, I still wouldn’t be at a fraction of the sponsorship revenue that’s generated by the big three (Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates).”

Thriving academy

SuperSport have a thriving academy that produces some of the best players in the country. But when a club like Sundowns come calling, as they so often do, SuperSport tend to feel obliged to sell them off.

This is a big money-spinner for Matsatsantsa. What would happen to that academy if SuperSport were relegated? Would SuperSport be able to survive in any case on a Motsepe Foundation Championship grant?

Several much-loved clubs have disappeared without trace after being relegated. Hunt recently played his 1000th game as a coach in the Premier Soccer League. He is, and always will be a coaching legend and a SuperSport legend.

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But the situation the club were in simply left no room for sympathy.