Shaun Bartlett says he’s been approached by multiple clubs in the past few months, but details why a sudden departure from Cape Town Spurs has made him cautious about his next step.
Bartlett parted ways with Spurs in October last year and has been out of the game for almost six months now.
During his lengthy hiatus, the former Bafana Bafana striker reveals he has engaged with “five or six clubs”, but nothing came out of it.
He pointed out this is mainly due to a lack of long-term vision from some of the potential employers. The 51-year-old is hoping for a well-thought-out project stipulating what the club wants to achieve in the long run.
With Cape Town Spurs, he feels the club just wanted a DStv Premiership promotion but had no “backup plan” to sustain themselves thereafter.
Bartlett says he and the technical team were not given sufficient time to turn things around as the club was struggling in the early stages of its first season back in the premiership.
SHAUN BARTLETT REVEALS HE’S HAD TALKS WITH ‘FIVE OR SIX CLUBS’ AFTER SPURS EXIT
“For me, it’s just to wait for the right opportunity,” he said during the interview with FARPost.
“When I left Spurs I engaged with probably five or six clubs. And it has been six months now and they haven’t worked.
“In the same sentence, I wasn’t just gonna go to a club for the sake of working. If there was no plan, vision or idea as to what they wanted to achieve then I didn’t see the need to go to those clubs.
“I think that’s where it comes down to. Clubs also…whoever is in charge has to tell me where you wanna be in five years.
“Don’t just tell me, ‘This season coach we want promotion.’
“And then what?
“That’s pretty much what happened with Cape Town Spurs, they wanted promotion but there was no backup plan as to how the club was gonna be sustained or stabilised. Which players you’re going to bring in?
‘WE WORKED SO HARD TO GET THE TEAM TO PSL’
“I know obviously playing Playoffs sort of minimised that process of signing players. But at the end of the day, for me, it was a disappointment because we worked so hard to get the team to PSL and the time was not given to the coaching staff to turn things around.
“It’s unfortunate but we move forward, but I’ve been keeping busy by doing some grassroots and things like that.
“It’s also satisfying because that’s the next generation that needs to be impacted in order for professional teams not to be concerned about teaching at the highest level.”
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