17th December 2011
MUHSIN ERTUGRAL

COACHES COMMENT AGAINSt ajax

After our two week brake the game against Ajax was the expected difficult encounter. Football wise both team played a good flowing passing game.

Having Mbesuma and Johannes out due injuries and Shephard and Musonda out due to card suspensions, showed us it is not going to be easy. ? believe we started  firstly very well but again our concentration level was very bad and a positional error cost us the 1- 0 lead for Ajax. The second half of the game was something that show me, our team has a very good fighting spirit and never giving up attitude. The boys really showed character and gave it all.

We pressed Ajax completely in their half for nearly the entire 45 min. We had some good opportunities to score, a disallowed goal, and some error in precision and decision taking in front of the goal, cost us the points.Still the performance of the team gives us the belief in the teams ability. To mention the great performance of our youngster Nkosi Gumede in his first PSL game, after Helton picked up an injury.
Our next game against pirates will be the last before the break, we are looking forward to an exciting game.

? wish you all merry Christmas and a prosperous new year, may all your wishes come through in 2012.

05th December 2011
MUHSIN ERTUGRAL

COACHES COMMENT AGAINST bidvest wits

Once again, with the Wits game, we were all on the field but for the first 20 minutes never all made our presence felt. During this time, to compound our issues, there was a questionable penalty decision. What makes me happy about our team is that we have developed a 'never give up' attitude.

We dominated control of the game in the second half and in the end I was unhappy to loose 2 important points. Abafana came back hard in this half and we created many goal scoring opportunities but were unfortunate not to convert them.

The week of the Telkom Cup final will allow us to prepare well for our next two games, that being Ajax and an away game against Pirates. Games I am confident that we can win. The teams positive attitude to win with their backs against the wall forms a great foundation for a lot of positive play.

We also have Elsa with us for the entire week to help the boys in core work and co-ordination. It is amazing how much positive energy and attitude comes from these sessions and I am sure we will end the year on a high note.

We look forward to your continual support!

30th November 2011
MUHSIN ERTUGRAL

COACHES COMMENT AGAINST moroka swallows

Our mid-week encounter against Swallows earned us 3 important points against a strong and in-form team. The game had two very different halves, with Swallows keeping us on the back foot in the first and then us dominating in the second. Their game-plan was to stretch us and then try to capitalise on one-on-one situations through Nomvete. I must say that Swallows is an impressive team and could have scored in the first half.
Our goal came from some exceptional positional play along with a great combination over the side with Philani allowing Gazuba to score.

Our strategy in the second half was to look for quick counter attack opportunities to attack and capitalise on. We carried out this game plan to perfection and in the end feel that the score should have been more, bearing in mind we had 4 clear opportunities to score.

27th November 2011
MUHSIN ERTUGRAL

COACHES COMMENT AGAINST on the telkom cup against pirates

Firstly I would like to thank all of you for the great support, and for arriving in numbers for our game against Orlando Pirates. This was greatly appreciated by both the team and management.

We are all obviously upset with the result from this game, the first 15 minutes went in favour to Orlando Pirates but then we found our rhythm, we thereafter assumed domination and excelled in a period of play that saw a courageous individual effort from Johannes, which resulted in a superb goal.

We then seemed unable to create any more chances and conceded a goal from a corner. We brought the ball back into the middle off the corner and gave a very soft goal away.

In the early stages of the second half, Pirates dominated play again and started to play long balls. To me, this was an indication that their normal pass play was not being as effective as normal.

Pirates second goal came from a disastrous error and this proved to be a turning point in the game. After this they started dominating the play and they began creating more options for themselves. But the key moment in the outcome of the game was when Tom lost possession to Klate in the box, allowing him to feed Mbuyane and allowing them to put their second goal in.

Sheppard then conceded a penalty in the box. A decision I don't completely agree with but we must remember this decision is the referees', and all in all he blew a fair game. This allowed Pirates to put another one in the back of the net, and setting the score to 3-1.

I do feel that there is way too much 'diving' from players, trying to get free kicks in and around the box. Balanced athletes do not fall so easily and there have been many instances when I wish the play should just carry on.

Our next game is against Swallows, and your strong and continual support will help us overcome this difficult encounter. We will try and encourage and uplift our boys who I feel, have been giving their best.

Your support is important to us!

21st November 2011
MUHSIN ERTUGRAL

COACHES COMMENT AGAINST jomo cosmos

Reflecting on our away game against Cosmos, we had a game where we performed on two separate scales!

Our first-half performance was disastrous, and the basis of this was nerves from our side, and the pressure we were experiencing to cope with what we had set out to do.

The second half was a more superior performance! The team managed to hold onto the ball more and therefore allowing us to create more plays that allowed us to get the ball to the wings and create better scoring chances. Off the ball our play was more improved too. We tended to position ourselves better after losing possession, and the team seemed to sync in this. Everyone was placing themselves better on the field automatically.

I feel that I need to mention the fine performance by Gabuza, who was for me, my Man of the Match.

I am looking forward to the coming weeks and how it is going to be a tough period as far as games are for us. We are playing Orlando Pirates this coming Saturday in a Telkom Cup match, then four days later we face Swallows and then an away game against Wits.

The victory against Cosmos will help us mentally in this preparation period, bringing a lot of positive attitude into the training we have ahead. We will start preparations on Monday for our very interesting challenge against Pirates. Hopefully all KZN football lovers will come and support us.

See you next Saturday at Moses Mabida Stadium!

16th November 2011
MUHSIN ERTUGRAL

COACHES COMMENT AGAINST amazulu and the telkom quarter final against ajax

Our game against Amazulu is a perfect example of how cruel the game of football can be! Even though we dominated the field of play from the first whistle to the last we were defeated 2 - 1. This was a bitter defeat for the team.

Our next match, against Ajax in the Telkom Quarter Final, proved that Arrows can come back strong after a loss.

Despite Ajax being impressive in their first 20 minutes of play, this being from their usual game of strong wing play, our organisation and preparation on defence proved invaluable. We had decided that we would block them in their passing opportunities and therefore thwarting their plays from their build-ups.

The second half against Ajax was a thrilling game. After a mistake in defence from an Ajax corner, they managed to equalise, but Arrows never lost the driving seat. We decided that we wanted to go more wide and subbed Philani for Nkosi. This enabled us to stretch the Ajax defence more and the strategy paid off, allowing us to score from a wide build up.

The FIFA weeks have allowed us to prepare in a more relaxed atmosphere. The topics we covered in training were about transition in a game plan from a defensive stance to attacking and visa-versa. We also ha our fitness expert, Elsa, join us from Joburg to address the physical side of the team.

We have a very interesting two weeks ahead of us, hopefully we will rise to the expectations of our fans and can put all that the team has shown in training, into practice in our games.

Keep on supporting!

01st November 2011
MUHSIN ERTUGRAL

COACHES COMMENT AGAINST FREE STATE STARS

Looking back on our last performance against Freestate Stars, we should be a bit disappointed with our results, however we can look at it from a different perspective and see that although we still quite a road to achieve our goals, we can see results and we know we are on the right track.

Not taking anything away from Stars, who played a hard game, if we had kept up the positive aspects of our play from our match against Supersport, the results would have been very different.

We battled to retain secondary ball in the game and therefore lost our advantage that we should have had. This was our major downfall in the game. But again, all is not lost and I feel that the players have taken this as a learning curve and will correct this in future games.

We will be glad to have the services of Dillon Shephard in the next match and another positive in the camp is that Kathlego had a full training session with the team. Mbesuma has also been receiving extensive physio and will be available against Amazulu.

Looking towards the Durban Derby is stirring quite a bit of emotion in me, and I hope that we will be able to generate the hype and excitement in Kwazulu Natal that the games in Joburg and Cape Town have had. We know that our part of this is to bring creative and exciting football to ignite that flair and I believe we have that fire burning in the camp with great anticipation.

Amazulu is looking very good at the moment and the night promises to be an action packed encounter for football followers.

Arrows looks forward to seeing you all at King Zwethilini Stadium.

25th October 2011
MUHSIN ERTUGRAL

SUNDOWNS AND SUPERSPORT COACHES COMMENT

It has been a very challenging task over the last two games, and I need to commend both the players and technical staff on our results. We have achieved a draw against Sundowns and an away win against the Log Leaders of the Telkom Cup.

Looking back over this period, it has been a priority to find the right frame-work to achieve the goal we had set ourselves for each game. Sundowns and Supersport play two completely different styles of soccer and our approach had to target each respectively. Our results have shown that we were successful in both respects.

This brings me to an important point, and that is that in the short period of time that the team, technical staff and I have worked together, we have achieved favourable results, and this gives us all a positive outlook and hope for the future.

Looking ahead to the following weeks however, we have some new challenges, and results that we want to maintain. First, we have an away game against Freestate Stars, then the Durban Derby and the last challenge being the Telkom Cup. Our technical team are set with the job of balancing the games with the right periodisation.
Furthermore, our last games have cost us some injuries in the camp as well as the availability of Dillon Sheppard only against Amazulu again because of his suspension form the Sundowns game.

28 September 2011
Ernst Middendorp

GOLDEN ARROWS VS SANTOS

No doubt our situation is giving cause for concern!

Once again, Arrows conceded 2 needless goals at the beginning of the match against Santos. We allowed this by making positional mistakes and not concentrating on one-on-one situations that cropped up. This allowed the
opposition to take advantage of huge gaps in our defence, a totally unnecessary situation which they took full advantage of, and appropriately punished us!

In the final 15 minutes of the first half and the entire second half we started to show our fighting spirit and commitment to coming back to achieve our desired result, a win. We dominated the game in all aspects, allowing
the opponent no space, and produced several goal scoring opportunities, including a penalty!

However, we are not achieving our goals and results that we have set up and this is showing through the individuality being displayed in the team. The sooner we start displaying a 'Team Fighting Spirit' from everyone wearing the Golden Arrows colours from the FIRST whistle the better! We will then start achieving the scores and wins that we know and have shown in our play, that we are capable of.

Even as a coaching team we need to become more aggressive in getting involved on the field. No doubt this is overdue as well.

It is time for an major attitude change from 'Less Me' to 'More We!'.

20 September 2011
Ernst Middendorp

MARITZBURG UNITED VS GOLDEN ARROWS

Congratulations to Maritzburg United F.C on their 2-0 win over us on Sunday.

We conceded an early goal in the 8th minute, completely against our style of play, which threw us and we never came back from it. This allowed Maritzburg United to defend deep, wait for our mistakes we had in our forward movements, and capitalise with quick counter attacks for the remainder of the match.

In the team talk, emphasis was made with regards to maintaining full concentration in our defence from the first whistle, not allowing the opposition free scoring opportunities. I was convinced, especially after working on defence building up to and during the match against Platinum Stars, that we would not falter. However, this did not pose to be true! We have prepared, in detail, during practice but often do not follow this through to our play on the field in the way we should!

As players, we have to be prepared to bring our full potential to the full 90 minutes of play on the field. It seems as if we are overestimating ourselves sometimes, thinking that we can play in the PSL successfully, without bringing our full game to the field and completing the job as a team.

If we are prepared to learn from our mistakes at any time, as well as make a critical appraisal of current position in the League, then I am certain that we will start picking up points consistently.

16 September 2011
Ernst Middendorp

GOLDEN ARROWS VS PLATINUM STARS

The club and I can be very happy that the true colours of our players has started shining through.

On Wednesday, Golden Arrows showed considerable strength of character while playing their football against Platinum Stars!

I am very proud of the guys! They did an outstanding job, outplaying a well drilled, strong opponent to a 3 – 1 win. All of them displayed considerable progress in their team spirit and the hard work and determination over the past three weeks has prevailed. We can stand tall and be proud, coming back from our defeat against Black Leopards at the end of August.

We went into the match well prepared, with our training sessions over the past weeks concentrating on the game that Platinum Stars bring to the field. This has been proven to be effective, the score being the proof!

I am extremely proud of our guys for winning, showing their metal, and coming together as a team and showing their worth!

26 August 2011
Ernst Middendorp

black leopards vs GOLDEN ARROWS

Considering the fact that we have not picked up a single point out of three League matches (one home game and two away), scoring only one goal while conceding seven, we know that our start to the 2011/2012 PSL Season has been a false start for us! Leaving us at the bottom of the League!

Before conceding the first goal in our mach against Black Leopards (in the 70th minute), we produced several chances for goals but we never converted them into points; Collins Mbesuma (some short distance shots and a header from a short distance), Katlego Mashego (some short distance shots), Philani Shange (a short distance shot), Musa Bilankulu (header from a distance), Siyabonga Nkosi (16m central shot) and Dillon Sheppard (15m central shot). We are clearly did not take full advantage of our dominant play in the first 70 minutes of the game.

We definitely face a huge problem in terms of making the right decisions in the final third in front of the goal post. We are taking shots when we should be passing, we cross early when we should dribble! We need to take this in hand, and considering our lack of self-confidence in terms of our finishing in front of the goal keeper, it will be one of the major training activities over the next three weeks, before our next home game against Platinum Stars on September 14th.

We have a large area for improvement in the midfield as well, a challenge ball was given away too easily and the opponent managed to force a 2-on-1 situation on the left wing, scoring the first goal from a short distance shot. We need to improve on winning these 50/50 balls in midfield, and we will be concentrating on this aspect of our game too.

At present we are playing very individually, and the boys need to pull together! We have considerable team spirit and once everyone realises how formidable we are as a team, we will excel beyond our possibilities!

We know we have to turn it around in our next matches against Platinum Stars, Maritzburg United and Santos. I believe that over those three games we are going to see a more united Team!

19 August 2011
Ernst Middendorp

SUPERSPORT UNITED vs GOLDEN ARROWS

Wednesdays defeat against SuperSport United FC was completely unnecessary! Conceding the goal in extra time of the 1st half was the result of the interconnection of several individual mistakes, coupled with players exercising restraint! We just do not need that! Sorry, but we have only ourselves to blame!

We started the second half well and showed the right answer. Within four minutes Katlego Mashego had a great scoring opportunity from a distance of 12m and took a shot. This was the result of a concerted move with Joseph Musondo and Sibaya Nkosi on the right wing. The equaliser, through Katlego Mashego, came n the 52 minute however, after heading an effective cross from Nkosi into the net.

The following 30 minutes we played a consistent game, not allowing our opponents a great deal of space even though there were two dangerous moments. A header from Laffor and a shot at goal from Arwuah. Again, in the 82nd minute we dropped our guard, lost the ball on the left wing too easily, not blocking a cross from Laffor and allowing the 1.98m striker, Niang , to convert possession into points. SuperSport United were at 2-1. Again this was an avoidable scenario!

Golden Arrows showed their mettle again, but however were left annoyed at not being able to convert the huge scoring opportunity in the final seconds of extra time in the game, into points.

Naturally we returned home disappointed with our loss, but we should not be discouraged in our future games! We have the talent and potential to turn our game-play around and will most defiantly do so!

15 August 2011
Ernst Middendorp

GOLDEN ARROWS vs BLOEM CELTIC

Our home game against Bloemfontein Celtic on Saturday ended in an unpleasant, but educational defeat for Golden Arrows. I had discussed, in the pre-game Media Conference my doubt with regards to some players being able to handle the pressure in the first match of the season as they had not had any regular exposure in this type of pressure over the past season. Nevertheless, we would like to compliment Bloemfontein Celtic on their three(3) goals, with two of them definitely being in contention for Goal of the Season 2011/2012. Congratulations.

Golden Arrows played well in the first 20 minutes of the game. We looked comfortable on the ball, retaining 58% ball possession, and producing some decent goal scoring opportunities while looking organised and structured in defence. Two promising opportunities were Philani Shanges' attempt in the 14th minute after receiving a pass from Nkosi and Mashengo's shot after a break-through pass on the left wing with Dillon Sheppard.

In the second quarter of the game we dropped our performance, losing essential control of the ball and allowing our opponents several attempts at goal, 6 in total. We failed to retain the ball, losing it easily and then not applying pressure on Celtic when they were attacking. The defensive line moved back into our own 18-yard box, failing to mark the opposing players. Consequently, Bloemfontein Celtic managed to convert possession to points in the 32nd minute to lead 1-0. At the same time, our attacking movement became too casual and did not look dangerous at all! We made a number of wrong decisions with several misunderstandings, low pace and inaccurate passes marring our game.

Within the first 10 minutes of the second half, the game had been decided! Our right defence was weak, allowing Bloemfontein Celtic through to score two(2) goals. From thereon we were looked as if we were just trying to keep Celtic at 3, not converting our ball time into constructive plays and shot opportunities.
There is no doubt that we have a lot of work to do in order for us to perform as a compact unit, strong in both defence and attack. The crucial factor in being successful as a team, and playing to our full potential, is how we can consolidate, eradicate our errors and play a consistent game!

Let's just do it!