Ex-Cape Town City coach Ertugral says football doesn’t reward perfection

Etrugral (right): Cape Town City FC.

A month after his sacking as Cape Town City FC coach, Muhsin Ertugral has responded to questions about what he could have done differently during his stint with the Betway Premiership side in South Africa.

The veteran coach, who was released on March 17, 2025, took to his Facebook page to explain that, in coaching, there is no question of looking back on what one should have been better. He added that the game does not reward perfection.

“I have learned over all these years [that] this game doesn’t reward perfection. It is impossible. I would say it demands presence and clarity of your important tough decisions. We often hear former players or coaches saying, ‘if only I had done it differently’. Football is not about fiction. It is for me, living with what was real, and doing what needed to be done in that moment and under those conditions,” he said.

The former Kaizer Chiefs coach said he thinks he delivered on the mandate he was brought on board for after replacing the previous mentor, Eric Tinkler.

“When I stepped into the club mid-season, a couple of you were not coming in to debate the past. You came in to restore direction, which you were brought in for, because something is not working. And you hear and read, some of the same voices asking for trust, were present when things went wrong before. But trust is for sure not inherited.”

Earlier, the Turkish mentor bemoaned the tendency to ignore the mental strain coaches go through in their business. Ertugral left his role after a nine-game winless run across all competitions in the South African top-flight league.

Diogo Peral is the caretaker mentor for Cape Town City mentor with Lebogang Manyama and Roger De Sa as his assistants. Etrugral joined the team in January 2025 to replace Tinkler, who was sacked while City were in 12th place. The former Chiefs trainer has left the side in 13th place.