Nuttall Trips At First Hurdle
Kabelo Boranabi | Monday March 9, 2020 11:53
He arrived in January after the dismissal of Tomas Trucha, who had just been at the club for six months. Trucha did not have a bad record. But he was shipped after he could not meet the high standards set at the club.
On the other hand, Nuttall arrived at the Blues on a six-month contract with an impressive CV and was tied to a ‘trial’ half year contract as the club wanted him to justify his enormous wage demands.
He had three targets ahead and was expected to deliver the Mascom Top 8, Orange FA Cup and BTC Premiership titles to the ever demanding Popa faithful.
His journey got off to a good start with a 7-0 thrashing to Police XI in a league match. Shock defeats then followed against minnows, Gilport Lions in the league and BDF XI in the second league of the Mascom Top 8 semi-finals. An away FA Cup win over Tonota FC eased the pressure on the well-travelled Nuttall. But soon fans and pundits alike started questioning the coach’s ability after a derby defeat to Gaborone United (GU) on March 1.
Nuttall and his troops had to deal with the first hurdle coming face to face with former Rollers coach, Mogomotsi ‘Teenage ’Mpote in the final of the Mascom Top 8 on Saturday afternoon. Popa went down 4-3 after penalties as the teams were tied at 1-1 after extra time.
The Top 8 has been country’s most prized asset carrying the biggest purse of P1.4 million at stake. The stage was recently set for the former Gor Mahia coach to deliver. He had been in similar position before as he has won the Kenyan Premier League version of the competition with Gor Mahia.
On Saturday afternoon, Popa fell prey to the Ostriches as Nuttall failed to go over his first hurdle. As pressure piles, the Scot insists that he does not feel overwhelmed after the cup final defeat. “I just keep working. We will recover then train on Monday, I just keep on working on you know. I actually do not feel pressure. I have said this before, I face the challenges we face as football coaches, and there are hurdles we try to overcome. These are the hurdles faced by any other football club and we are trying to overcome them,” he said.
Monitor Sport is informed that negotiations for a new deal between Nuttall and Rollers are set to begin next month. The coach has the FA Cup and league championship to earn himself a long term at the club. In his next tie, Nuttall will lead Rollers against Sua Flamingos in the Orange FA cup last 16 round tie.