Speculation
went into overdrive this weekend regarding who will be announced as the new Bafana
Bafana coach this week.
As
one went through the Sunday publications, it was obvious that the same old
story of "who is your source within SAFA" was replaying itself once more.
One
newspaper proudly proclaimed that the name that will emerge from the envelope
when the SAFA suits reveal the favoured candidate would be that of
Mozambican-born Carlos Queiroz. It even reminded us - as if we didn’t know - that
the former Manchester United assistant manager and Iran national coach will be
coming for his second stint.
However,
two other publications stated categorically that Queiroz was out of the running
due to his ongoing legal battle with the Iran Football Association, whose
national team he guided to their first ever Soccer World Cup in Brazil last year.
The
two newspapers stated that there were now only two frontrunners: Herve Renard
who helped Zambia to their first ever Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) trophy in
2012 and went on to guide Ivory Coast to their first AFCON; and Hugo Broos who
has just bagged the continental cup with an under-strength Cameroon.
To
be honest, I wouldn’t have any qualms with any of the above mentioned trio
bagging the coveted, albeit poison chaliced job. They are all suitably
qualified.
My
beef is with the way that SAFA has handled the whole thing from the appointment
of one Ephraim "Shakes" Mashaba to where we are now where we find ourselves about
to announce a new coach while there is an ongoing case at the CCMA.
This
should have been handled much better from the onset. SAFA should not have given
Mashaba such a shady mandate from the beginning: to qualify for the 2015 and
2017 AFCONs as well as the 2018 Soccer World Cup.
It
should have been taken one event at a time. Had this been the case, Mashaba
would have been fired once he failed to qualify Bafana Bafana for the 2017
shindig. And the country would have been saved this unpalatable situation it
finds itself in right now.
Going
forward, SAFA must have a clear-cut mandate for the coach and set some
stringent mandates. As I have mentioned for many years, with the facilities
South Africa has, it should no longer be negotiable whether we qualify for an
AFCON tournament.
It
should be a given.
The
mandate should be to reach the last four or even win the darn thing! The year
1996 when Bafana last won the AFCON is now ages ago.
Also,
this flip-flopping between local and foreign coaches must come to an end.
Even
this time around, Bidvest Wits coach Gavin Hunt wasn't among the last five of
those short-listed.
I
will say again at the risk of being guillotined, I don’t think there is
currently a local coach who can take our national team to the next level.
So
foreign is the route to go right now, but we also need to do our best to develop
our own coaches to be among the best in the world.
S'Busiso Mseleku is regarded as one of Africa's leading
sports journalists and an authority on football. He has received some of
the biggest awards in a career spanning over 30 years. He is currently
City Press Sports Editor.
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