As the clock ticks towards just under a month before he completes a year in charge at Sekhukhune United, Brandon Truter has had first-hand experience of how much to chew in relation to what he can swallow.
Truter took over at Sekhukhune late 2022 after the club experienced a slow start under Kaitano Tembo.
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Under his tutelage, Babina Noko boxed their way to a top eight finish and reached the Nedbank Cup final which earned them the ticket to play in the CAF Confederation Cup where they have reached the group stages where they will face RS Berkane, Diables Noirs, and Stade Malien.
Now, with the DStv Premiership, Carling Black Label Cup, Nedbank Cup, and continental commitments on the table, Truter must be careful about how much he loads into his mouth.
"Reality is that with the squad that Marumo Gallants had they got relegated last season," Truter says in reference to Marumo who reached the semi-finals of the Confederation Cup but were then relegated.
"They had a quality squad to play in the league and in the Confederation Cup they did so well (reaching the semi-finals) but then still got relegated.
"So, this is a trap that we don't want to fall into as well.
"We must be realistic about that.
"In as much as a club, we are making strides in South African football, we also want to make strides in Africa as well but then that is a challenge that we have to be careful about.
"As a club, we have to pick our battles carefully if we want to sustain our stay in the highest league in South African football.
"We have a thin squad of 28 with nine injuries now and then there is also three players on three yellow cards and one card away from suspension.
"So, we have to look into it and welcome the FIFA break at this moment because we are trying to get everybody fit.
"The realistic target is that after coming in while the team was in 15th place it was about surviving relegation, but we managed to get into the top eight.
"So, we obviously want to improve from last season and improving means a top six finish which is going to be a challenge with every club playing good football," says Truter while then providing clarity about his recent remarks of not being the happiest.
"It was taken a bit out of context, not the happiest it was because of the result on the day and the fact that I couldn't fault the boys for the performance on the day.
"We played extremely well against Arrows, but the result wasn't forthcoming so after the final whistle I didn't handle my emotions well.
"As coaches you want to be faced with hardships, struggles, and problems so that from mistakes you then grow.
"It is a club that is growing with still only three years (in the DStv Premiership) so we are making mistakes here and there.
"But what should count is that we don't make the same mistakes twice but grow it from it so that there is progress," he explains.
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