Cape Town Spurs to retain experienced players for DStv Premiership

The Urban Warriors have several of the old guard who were crucial in helping them seal promotion to the top flight in the play-offs on Wednesday night.

Among them is captain and defender Clayton Daniels, as well as right-back Nazeer Allie, who are both 38 years old.

"Listen, age is just a number. If you see the way these players played [in the season], would you say Clayton is 39? Would you say Nazeer Allie is 37? So, for me, age is just a number," said Bartlett.

"I know how to manage them, that's why Clayton could play almost every game. In some games, I left him out, which he wasn't happy about, but at the end of the day, how I manage the players is about matchday.

"They don't have to run the same as a 19-year-old [because] they've been playing for 20 years. So, you've got to manage your players in a proper way to get the best out of them, and for me, he [Daniels] has another year or two left, easily."

It’s not just those two names that come to mind when picking out key contributors to Spurs being back in the top flight.

Bartlett is surrounded by his ex-Bafana Bafana teammates Nasief Morris and Calvin Marlin as part of his technical team. 

"Without a doubt, having Nasief next to me, a former defender who takes care mostly of the defensive stuff, Calvin, who is obviously our analyst and goalkeeper coach, he was everything," the coach added.

"So, for me, you always have to give credit, and these guys always make jokes, like Calvin calls me boss, and I'm like, 'We work together, we don't work for each other.' And when we achieve results, that's where the recognition needs to go."