Barker looks forward to Confed Cup
Stellies coach says CAF licence came at the right time
Fresh from obtaining his CAF A Licence, Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker has made it clear that they’ll go all out in the CAF Confederation Cup, aiming to enjoy the journey to the fullest.
“We’re definitely 100% excited about the journey,” Barker said on the sidelines of the CAF A Licence graduation ceremony, where he alongside some of his Premiership peers like Gavin Hunt and Eric Tinkler among others received their badges, at Safa House last Friday.
“I’ve just spoken to coach Eric and coach Gavin who’ve had experience [in CAF contests]... I got a lot of insight into what to expect and the one thing that came out for me is that you actually have to go and enjoy it, although there’ll be obstacles and a lot of challenges and frustrations. You just have to show resilience and just enjoy the ride... we will give it a full go and do the best we can.”
Barker also highlighted that they know they need to bolster their squad to meet the demands of the taxing contest.
“We’re mindful of the fact that continental football can stretch you. We’ve done a lot of discussions and planning, strategising around that. So, we know that the amount of players we had last season wouldn ’ t be sufficient going into the next season with a new competition,” Barker said.
“I think it’s extra 16 matches if you go all the way to the final, so it’ll definitely stretch us as a club. We are mindful of that and we will have more numbers than we normally do but we’ll be very strategic in terms of the way we will do it in our thinking and in our planning.”
Having obtained the CAF A License also means Barker will now be eligible to sit on the bench in Confed Cup matches as CAF rules stipulate, that coaches must have either CAF Pro or CAF A badges to be on the bench in the inter-club matches.
“I think the course came just at the right time, obviously you need this qualification to sit on the bench. It wasn’t easy, especially having to come on four different occasions during Fifa breaks... you’re away from your team during that period, so there was an element of sort of sacrifice but I think it was necessary,” Barker said.