Steve Barker addresses Stellenbosch woes | OneFootball

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Barker on Stellies' tough start

Photo: Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker

Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker has addressed his team's tough start to the 2025/26 campaign, with the club somewhat a shadow of its former self.

The Cape Winelands outfit is in an unfamiliar residence on the Betway Premiership table as they currently occupy position 13 with nine points amassed from 10 league outings.

Furthermore, Barker's men were recently thrashed 4-0 by Marumo Gallants in the Carling Knockout Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday.

Speaking after the thrashing in Bloemfontein, the 57-year-old mentor called for cool heads, stating that the rough patch doesn't mean their main objectives of the campaign are far fetched.

“It's just about believing in what we do, believing in our processes, and believing in what has got us into this position as a football club - to be nominated for club of the year on the CAF continent, so we are doing a lot of good things,” said Barker.

"We can't can't let a couple of sort of results make us think we can't achieve what we want to achieve and set out to achieve this season.

Barker went on to urge his troops to keep their heads up, stressing the significance of swiftly moving past the heavy defeat.

“You are going to get challenges, you are going to get roadblocks like we did today [vs Gallants]. We are going to lose football games, we don't have the divine right to win every match we play,” he added.

"So, the important part is to get over this game as quickly as possible, learn from it and take the positives out of the previous two matches, work on some areas we weren't good enough on, also learn from that and make sure that we don't repeat it.