Tinkler keeps Sekhukhune United grounded despite flying start

AMONG football's most favoured clichés, the one about the league championship being a marathon is currently ringing true for Eric Tinkler, who could well have been a Comrades Marathon runner in his past.

- MATSHELANE MAMABOLO

The man in charge of early pacesetters Sekhukhune United could be getting carried away like the “TV runners” who often enjoy the limelight as they set out like rabbits in that world-famous ultra-marathon in KwaZulu-Natal, only to be swallowed up two-thirds into the race and never seen again.

He is a seasoned campaigner — local football’s most famous ginger — and, while all around him bask in the glory of their team’s unbeaten start to the Betway Premiership, Tinkler is preaching caution.

Of course, he enjoys that they are setting the pace, in the knowledge that even pacesetters can go all the way and win the title.

But just as the legendary Bruce Fordyce has always preached that the Comrades really begins after the 60km mark, Tinkler knows that seven matches into the season is far too early to start thinking about the championship.

“There’ still a very long way to go,” Tinkler said.