Gavin Hunt, head coach of SuperSport United, has endured a long spell of bad luck since the sale of his Wits side in 2021. Photo: BackpagePix
WITH four league titles to his name, he is undoubtedly one of the best coaches South Africa has produced.
But the spell of bad luck Gavin Hunt has had to endure over the past four years is almost unbelievable.
Hunt started his coaching career with Hellenic where he had made a name for himself as a player.
He then moved to Black Leopards before joining one of South Africa’s most legendary big clubs, the now-defunct Moroka Swallows.
It is then at SuperSport United where he started collecting accolades that would put his name in the list of top five best South African coaches.
At the Tshwane-based side, where he stayed between 2007 and 2013, he made his mark by being the first coach to win three consecutive league titles.
Only Gordon Igesund had won more league titles at the time, with his haul of four achieved with Manning Rangers and Santos, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.
But even he had only won the league twice consecutively (2000/2001 with Orlando Pirates, and 2001/2022 with Santos).
In fact, up to today, the only other coach to have achieved the feat of three consecutive and four domestic league titles is Pitso Mosimane (2015/2016 and from 2018 to 2020, all with Sundowns).
Even though Hunt is on such a prestigious list, things are and have not gone his way since 2021, when his silverware-challenging Bidvest Wits side were added to the “now-defunct” list by being sold to the on-and-off Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila.
Hunt joined Wits in 2013 and in 2017, making them league champions for the first time in their close to 100-year existence.
That team were operating well, having won the MTN8 in 2016/2017 and the Telkom Knockout in 2017/2018.
They had transformed to Sundowns’ league title challengers, and when they were sold in 2020, they were less than a year shy of reaching a full 100 years of existence – and that was the start of a rough ride for Hunt.
A few months after the sale of Wits, Hunt got a big gig (or so everyone thought) at the mighty Kaizer Chiefs.
That job would prove very challenging for Hunt as the Amakhosi were under a two transfer-window Fifa ban from signing players. That left Hunt having to make do with an ageing squad, while also juggling the effects of Covid-19 on society in general.
After nine months, Hunt left Chiefs. That period depleted his stocks, and it would be made worse when he surprisingly took to the landmine-infested terrain of coaching Chippa United.
He was at the Gqeberha-based side for less than five months between July and November 2021.
There was no surprise when he returned to SuperSport, but the unlucky spell was not over. The team that were known for always having some of the best talent in the league, suddenly battled financially.
That has since forced them to sell all their best players to survive, rely on promoting players from development ranks and sniffing around for cheap imports.
As a result, the current SuperSport United looks nothing like the almighty Hunt outfit that won three consecutive league titles.
Hunt’s current side does not even look like a top-four finishing team, with eight losses and five draws in 17 league outings.
And that just highlights the spell of bad luck currently facing a coach whose name has always been thrown into the pot whenever the next Bafana Bafana coach debate is opened for discussion.
Hunt’s SuperSport side will be in action on Wednesday night in the Nedbank Cup, when they face Cape Town Spurs in Atteridgeville (7pm kick-off).