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Ertugral ready to fine-tune an orchestra

Cape Town - New Orlando Pirates coach Mushin Ertugral claims his tactical knowledge of the game will fine tune the existing squad into a real force next season.

After impressing as head coach with Mpumalanga Black Aces last season, Ertugral reminded everyone of his credentials as one of the finest tacticians in the Premiership to date - which led to Irvin Khoza acting quickly to replace the much maligned Eric Tinkler with the former Ajax Cape Town boss.

Khoza will be hoping that the experienced coach will be able to turn around their fortunes of the past few seasons with their faithful supporters having to endure the agony of coming runners up in five major finals since last winning a trophy.

"I can't really say what the reason for Pirates reaching finals and not converting them [is]. I was not involved then," Ertugral told reporters in France where he's working as an analyst for Euro 2016.

"But what it shows is that the quality of the team is there. If you go to a cup final on the continent, it shows quality. Most coaches are looking at the technical side. But the part that needs to be refined is the tactical side. 

On a personal level for the Turkish tactician, the move to Mayfair could be an opportunity to finally add a PSL title to his already impressive CV - having won every knockout trophy on offer in South Africa, including three Telkom Knockouts, one MTN8 and two Nedbank Cups, plus the CAF Cup Winners Cup with Kaizer Chiefs in 2001.

With that experience at club level across the continent, the 55-year old is confident he can handle the rigours of managing a club of the Buccaneers stature.

"I have not only worked with South African big clubs. There was Club Africain, one of the biggest teams in Tunisia, Ismaily in Egypt and Sivasspor in Turkey - all these clubs are big," Ertugral said.

"Bigger clubs present different challenges because you have more demanding players and a bigger squad to manage. That is sometimes good, and sometimes not good.

"The team dynamism is very important, where everyone has to understand that togetherness is what is crucial, and not the individual.

"We have the quality. The most important thing, and this is what everyone at the club must understand, is how we can roll as a team in one direction.

"As I described it earlier, it's like fine-tuning an orchestra. If everyone is doing their own thing, no tune will come out. That's where the conductor, the coach, has their job to do."

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