Maybe it was the press jinx again.
It’s almost like a law of nature that once you talk up a phenomenon, it all comes crashing down.
That seemed to be the case on Wednesday night when Benni McCarthy’s perfect run as a coach came to a skrrrrrrh.
After a five-match winning streak, his Cape Town City team finally lost.
It wasn’t a great performance from his manne and they did deserved to lose.
It’s not like he was expecting this to be easy, right? After all, he must have seen the stress his former bosses were under.
Can you imagine what it was like being in a dressing room with the likes of Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho? That type of skel only comes from the pressure of getting results.
CLASSIC BLUEPRINT: Mentor Jose Mourinho
He knows more than anyone on his team the disappointment of losing a big match.
But the question was always just how Benni would react to defeat - a reality he always knew was coming.
And Benni’s answer was as philosophical as if it came from the mouths of his famous Champions League-winning mentors.
His answer: “I’m a winner. And I need to make winning a habit for my players.”
Man-management is the name of Jose’s game.
He is a master of lifting his players’ belief in their ability and maintaining that swagger and confidence.
For Van Gaal, his system was always the most important thing.
INFLUENTIAL: Legendary Louis van Gaal
But now, it’s important for Benni to reassure the players that they are on the right track with regard to his game plan and to make them believe that they are all on the same page.
Man-management is mostly about harmony.
You can’t have people on one team pulling in different directions or else you get nowhere.
For someone so groen in the game though, Benni is not an ideologue who is trying to revolutionise the game like Arsene Wenger, Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp.
He is a man schooled and influenced by Mourinho - the Special One is Benni’s touchstone.
PHILOSOPHICAL: City boss Benni McCarthy
Against Chiefs, his team looked to have run out of ideas when they got into the final third and so Benni will feel that his plan still works.
Come the next game and they bounce back with a win, he will think “if it ain’t broken, don’t try to fix it”.
At least, he isn’t in the same boat as another mentor of his - Gavin Hunt. Shame. After winning the league last season, his team are still without a PSL win after three games.
And after three defeats to a man he gave his professional debut to1997, Hunt must be a little more grumpy that Benni.