Following a Man of the Match winning performance from Bafana Bafana midfielder, Dean Furman, in the African Cup of Nations victory over Angola on Wednesday, the Oldham Athletic man has been compared to Bafana legend, Eric Tinkler.

Furman, 24, was instrumental in the win that repaired South African spirits and his display has prompted praise from all over Mzansi.

Since the game there have been a string of nicknames given to the Oldham captain, with Dean ‘Tinkler’ Furman being just one of them.

The Siya crew spoke to the midfielder who explained that he’d never had very elaborate nicknames growing up. When asked he replied, “No, not really, I’ve always just been called ‘Deano’ or ‘Furms’, it’s cool that people are wanting to give me one though.”

Tinkler, now 42, played a major role in Bafana’s 1996 Afcon victory and thinks that Furman definitely shares some of his strengths.

“Prior to the game I had actually said that he should be playing, I thought he could do the role very well and I thought he had a great performance last night. He seems to have a very calm head, he reads the game well, he’s a very intelligent player, and that’s what we needed in that position. Because of his knowledge, his maturity and his understanding of the game it gave some of the other guys a bit more freedom to express themselves, especially the front four.

“He wins a lot of balls, which is something that I did, I won balls in midfield. I read the game well and could anticipate what the opposition’s moves would be then make interceptions, I also kept it simple. That’s all what I saw him do last night, he’s very composed.”

What do you think would be a good nickname for the Bafana middleman? Leave your suggestions in the comments section of this article.