Cape Town City head coach Eric Tinkler empathised with counterpart and former teammate Shaun Bartlett after Cape Town Spurs suffered a seventh consecutive defeat with a 3-1 derby loss in the DStv Premiership at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
The contrast in quality between the two sides became apparent in the latter stages of the match, despite Spurs taking an early lead in the 3rd minute as City eventually outclassed their cross-town rivals.
READ | City pile more misery on Spurs with derby win
Tinkler featured alongside Bartlett back in 1996 as Clive Barker's all-conquering Bafana Bafana side lifted South Africa's only Africa Cup of Nations trophy.
Despite bragging rights being up for grabs at the resumption of a derby rivalry, Tinkler shared supportive words to an under-pressure Bartlett.
"I don't like talking about other teams, but I feel for him, I really, really feel for Shaun, but I think they needed to bring in a bit of more youth and quality.
"In youth, I mean someone 25, 26 or 27 years old with a bit more experience to help Shaun, because I think he's a good coach.
"I spoke to him after the game, I said to him you must control what you can, which is your level of professionalism, what you do when you come in everyday, when you train your team.
"Continue with that belief in what you are doing is right, because the game of football can be very, very cruel, especially for coaches.
"So I feel for him."
Tinkler then cited other renowned clubs such as Barcelona and Ajax Amsterdam who are currently enduring a difficult period at boardroom level.
"I had a recent conversation the other night, you see what's happening at Barcelona, and Ajax who are doing poorly in the league," Tinkler added.
"Barca are now under threat of having to close doors (financially) and it's difficult for those teams to compete when you're just using youngsters.
"That's just a fact, and development comes through in phases, it doesn't just happen and you will get phases of players who will come through and integrate quite easily.
"But then others will take time, and unfortunately we are in the business of now, we want results now.
"So that's one side of the game that's changed in my opinion, which is sad."
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