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Kermit Finds His Heart At Cape Town City

Kermit Erasmus has scored12 goals in 22 games, this has actually been his most prolific season. It is only the third time he has scored more than ten in a season.

I can’t help but delight in seeing Kermit Erasmus scoring regularly for Cape Town City this season. With 12 goals in 22 games, this has actually been Erasmus’ most prolific goalscoring season in his career. In fact, it is only the third time he has scored more than ten in a season.

Kermit Romeo Erasmus first came to my attention when he was about fourteen or fifteen. A friend of mine in Port Elizabeth told me about this very talented young player. I happen to come from Port Elizabeth and have always loved following sportsmen from my city and province. I grew up loving Eastern Cape sports players, whether it was Graeme Pollock, Danie Gerber or Dougie Williams. There was something special about following players who hail from the same area as you. It is provincial patriotism. Heck, when I found out Jomo Sono was born in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, I happily claimed him as one of ours. And whether fair or not, I admit that I have often favourited players just because of where they are from.

While the only Kermit most of us know is the frog from The Muppets, Delise Erasmus, Kermit’s mother, was a fan of another, and named her son after Kermit Ruffins, a famous New Orleans jazz trumpeter.

Kermit, who played for Rangers and Park United in Port Elizabeth was making waves from a very early age and was signed by the SuperSport United Academy. I was excited to follow his development. He was also included in the national under 17 side, playing alongside other current professionals like Thulani Serero, Daylon Claasen, Tshepo Gumede and Ramahlwe Mphahlele.

He made his first-team debut as a teenager in the 2007/2008 season and featured ten times as SuperSport went on to win the Absa Premiership. In 2007, Kermit was included in a list of the 50 most exciting teen footballers in the world, coming in at number 18 in the list compiled by World Soccer Magazine. Still aged 17, he scored his first professional goal for SuperSport on March 8 2008, against Ajax Cape Town. In 2008 Dutch Ere-Divisie side Feyenoord, who had a partnership with SuperSport, stepped in and signed Erasmus and winger Philani Khwela. Kamohelo Mokotjo would also join later.

“You have to put in more effort to get the ball, I have to work much harder than in South Africa,” Erasmus said when he was in the Netherlands, “and the players always think one step ahead.”

“I came here alone and miss my family, but at the same time, I know that I also do it for them. I want to succeed as a professional football player.”

“Playing matches makes me better. And I also train with major players such as Van Bronckhorst, Makaay and Tomasson. It would be nice if I was in the first eighteen. I will work hard and continue to be patient for my chance. The rest will hopefully follow automatically. “

On the national front Erasmus would graduate to the under-20 side and was a key member of Serame Letsoaka’s Amajita 2009 World Cup finals squad in that lost out in the last 16 to eventual winners Ghana. Erasmus scored 3 goals at the tournament. Unfortunately, Erasmus struggled for a place in Feyenoord’s first-team squad, and after a season playing for the second team, he was sent out on loan to Excelsior Rotterdam (where he would score 11 goals in the Eerste Divisie). When the laws changed in Europe around minimum wages for foreign players, Feyenoord decided they would not retain Erasmus, and after two years of a three-year contract, he was released back to SuperSport.

Erasmus made his Bafana Bafana debut under Pitso Mosimane, just a few months after South Africa hosted the World Cup, coming on as a substitute as South Africa beat Niger 2-0 in an Afcon qualifier on the fourth of September 2010. He would spend three seasons at SuperSport, scoring 17 goals in 68 appearances. The gifted Erasmus scored some spectacular goals for the club but struggled to score prodigiously, with a strike rate of a goal every four games, though he was often played as a winger or wide forward. He also added silverware to his accolades, lifting the Nedbank Cup this time.

In 2013 Orlando Pirates signed Erasmus, and the diminutive striker made an immediate impact, scoring 8 goals in all competitions in his first season. And once again he got his hands on the Nedbank Cup, as Pirates won the tournament. He continued his good form the following season, scoring 17 goals in all competitions. His five goals on the continent helped him to a couple of CAF nominations, and he was included as a reserve for the CAF team of the year. In the 2015/2016 season, Erasmus had added another 4 goals to his Pirates tally before making a surprise move back to Europe. On the 28th of January 2016, French club Rennes announced the signing of Erasmus.

The ambitious Erasmus had wanted another chance in Europe, but he struggled for game time and goals in France. He would spend just over 2 seasons in the country, making just 12 appearances for the Rennes first team, failing to find the back of the net. While he did score for Rennes Second Team, the club decided to send him on loan to Lens, where he scored one goal in 12 games. After returning from the loan, he once again struggled to get a place in the Rennes team. But Erasmus did not want to return to South Africa just yet, so signed a short term contract at Swedish club AFC Eskilstuna, where he scored twice in 11 games.

In August 2018 Erasmus signed for Vitoria Setubal in Portugal. But it was another forgettable move for Kermit, who was once again sidelined. He managed just 1 cup appearance in Portugal before he decided to return to South Africa and sign for Cape Town City. Erasmus was announced by City in December 2018, and he would join the club officially the following month.

“You know everything happens for a reason,” Erasmus said about his return from Europe without success.

“Mine was, I was just not getting enough game time. It wasn’t based on anything but not getting enough game time. And for me, it was all down to the coach. I’ve worked as hard as I could’ve worked throughout my time in Europe, but things just didn’t work out for me in that aspect. If it was the other way around, I’d still be in Europe.”

“You know I also have to look at my age and what I want for myself. No amount of money can make you happy if you’re not playing on the field. For me, that’s the most important thing as a footballer. So for me, my advice to youngsters would be that go and try play, but if you don’t play, you fade away, and that’s the reality of football. Playing is the most important thing.”

With Benni McCarthy the City coach at the time, Erasmus was looking forward to working with the Bafana Bafana legend. It was a new beginning and it even reflected on the back of his shirt, where he used his middle name ‘Romeo’, rather than Erasmus. I teased Kermit the first time he arrived, that because he is from Port Elizabeth, I already like him more than his teammates, but it also meant I expected more.

Watching the young man train, one thing was very clear – talent. Over the years I have seen thousands of professional footballers train, all of them talented enough to be professional. But there are different levels. Some are raw and instinctive, some are technical, some are athletic and physical. And then there are a few, like Kermit, who, apart from his height, or lack of it, seems to have it all. Kermit also started winning over other journalists, who were surprised by his personality. They were expecting a bit of an attitude, but instead, he was friendly and a little shy.

I remember when Banyana Banyana were playing in Cape Town, seeing Kermit and organising him to come through to the VIP area, where other players were sitting. He came into the media tribune with me first and greeted almost everyone there personally.

A few years earlier he had alienated a certain sector of fans and media, when he tweeted, “I’m no backup player” which was aimed at then Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba after it was reported that Mashaba wanted him to replace an injured player. Erasmus had initially been left out the squad. For many, it hinted of arrogance. But at the time Erasmus was in good form for Orlando Pirates and felt he should have been included in the squad in the first place. Unfortunately, this alienated Erasmus, and he would not play for Bafana for almost two years.

He would score three goals for City in the 13 games he played that season first season. And while that wasn’t the greatest start, he showed enough potential for me to start believing that Erasmus would be scoring regularly come the new season. It was just a feeling from watching his demeanour. It kind of reminded me of how Teko Modise behaved when he settled in Cape Town. It was like they had relaxed, or better yet, found their calm.

“Yeah, I’m at a place now where I’m content with where I am in my life, and my career, you know,” Kermit said at the start of the season.

“Yes, I went through a difficult period not playing regularly but it moulds you as a human being, it strengthens you mentally, and for me, I don’t think there’s much that can break me at this point.”

“I’ve had a lot of trials and tribulations in my career and I’ve overcome all of that and I’m still doing what I love, enjoying my game and entertaining people who enjoy watching me play.”

Like I said earlier, this past season has been Kermit’s most prolific. But it has also been a difficult one for the team, and it has been good to see Erasmus rise above those challenges. City went through a bad run of form; McCarthy was sacked; a new coach, Jan Olde Riekerink came in; and Erasmus had a few injury problems. But he endured, and whenever he was on the pitch this year he has been dangerous. In fact, his goal tally could’ve been a lot higher, but he’s had a few goals incorrectly ruled out for `offside.

Erasmus is 30 now and in my opinion, it is a little sad that somewhere along the way, his career trajectory went askew He really should have played more football, at both club and national level. He made his Bafana debut a decade ago, but since then has only picked up 17 caps, and scored just twice. I think part of the problem throughout his career was that Erasmus was not man-managed correctly. Of course, sometimes it was being at the wrong club, but some players, and I feel Kermit is one of them, need to feel like they are number one, a coach’s first choice. As he said himself, he’s not a backup player. They need a coach to believe in them and show faith. They don’t want to compete with other players for their position, they like to compete with themselves.

Many of the biggest clubs in the world have squads of players with this mindset. And it’s often what sets great coaches or managers apart. There are a lot of football geniuses, but not a lot of people geniuses in this game. Man management is a powerful tool.

I think it was Romeo who said, “Don’t waste your love on somebody, who doesn’t value it.” That is Shakespeare’s Romeo, and I often think footballers like Kermit feel like that when coaches don’t show that faith.

However, at City, both McCarthy and Olde Riekerink showed that faith in Kermit and the only thing that has kept him out of a starting line-up since his arrival at the club has been injuries. I think Benni was a bit like that as a player to an extent too, so he understood Kermit. Going through Benni’s career numbers, there is a definite correlation between Benni being first choice and happy at a club, and Benni performing well.

Of course, success at a club like City means that a player is often linked with a move away from the club. Erasmus has been linked with a move to Mamelodi Sundowns pretty much from day one. There were reports that he considered joining Sundowns before the move to City happened, but it never panned out. He would fit in very well in the Sundowns tactical game, but would Pitso Mosimane guarantee that he would be first choice at a club like Masandawana, where the squad is packed with quality players? It would be an interesting match up if it ever happened. Pitso did give Kermit his first senior Bafana cap when he was the coach.

First, however, Erasmus has 3 games left this season. He is 2 goals off the league’s top scorers and if he continues the rich vein of form he has been in, he could potentially challenge Gabadinho Mhango, Peter Shalulile, Bradley Grobler, Samir Nurkovic, Bongi Ntuli and Knox Mutizwa for the Golden Boot. It will be an interesting race. Erasmus, however, says it’s not about him or the Golden Boot.

“The individual performance of each player has been outstanding, mine stands out only because I’ve been scoring in the games that we’ve won and played in. But I think credit has to go to the rest of the team, my teammates, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to be in the position I was, to score the goals I could. “

“Credit must go to everybody for fighting and being together, that’s what a team is about. And I’m proud to call these soldiers my brothers.”

“We looking forward to what’s to come in the last few games, and we’ll see what happens.”

City’s final three games of the Absa Premiership season will be against Golden Arrows (29 August), Highlands Park (2 September) and SuperSport United (5 September).

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