Queiroz for the Bafana job?
It’s sensible to look at a coach’s track record and his philosophy, says Clive Barker
Now that the Africa Cup of Nations is over, it won’t be a surprise if a few more names are added to the speculative list of coaches to fill the Bafana Bafana vacancy.
With each passing stage of the tournament, a new candidate has been linked to the position last held by Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba.
First it was Uganda’s Serbian coach Milutin Sredojevic, then Frenchman Herve Renard, followed by his compatriot Claude Le Roy, and most lately Avram Grant who took Ghana to the semi-finals of Afcon.
Speculation has swirled around Carlos Queiroz returning to the national side, along with Stuart Baxter and Pitso Mosimane, while the names of ex-England coach Roy Hodgson, Gavin Hunt, Owen da Gama and Nigerian legend Samson Siasia were thrown into the mix.
Today is the first day of Mashaba’s CCMA hearing to fight for his reinstatement. Mashaba was suspended in November for misconduct and insubordination, and dismissed in December.
Public opinion is that Mashaba was on shaky ground and facing the axe since he accused Safa of not backing him in the face of media criticism after he failed to qualify for Afcon.
Safa announced last month that the search for a new coach was under way, which suggest that president Danny Jordaan and Co are confident of winning the case or prepared to pay compensation to see the back of Mashaba if they lose in court.
Having had three local coaches in succession at the helm of the national side, the feeling is that Jordaan now prefers a foreigner with a strong track record. The president recently penned a memo to the various Safa regions questioning whether the future of the national team was better served by the inclusion of more overseas-based players.
The debate of local versus foreign is an old one which veteran coach Clive Barker is well familiar with. The Afcon 1996 champion coach believes there are advantages for both cases.
“In either scenario it’s sensible to look at a coach’s track record and his philosophy. Sometimes you need a workaholic, sometimes a motivator and sometimes a mix of both,” said Barker.
For Barker it’s a simple choice, be it local or foreign. “If it’s local then I would love to see (Gavin) Hunt being given an opportunity. There’s also Pitso (Mosimane) who has improved a lot as a coach.
“If it’s foreign then there are some people I spoke to about Queiroz who say he’s very talented. He already knows the pitfalls of working here.”
Whichever direction Safa chooses they had better act quickly.
w Meanwhile, Njabulo Ngidi reports that Lorenze Gordinho has gone from struggling to make the Kaizer Chiefs bench to being a regular starter, the club’s top goalscorer and attracting interest from Europe ever since Steve Komphela replaced Stuart Baxter. So there’s no wonder the Amakhosi centre back feels indebted to Komphela.
“We have a good relationship,” Gordinho said. “He understands me as a player and he has given me the chance to prove myself. I have to repay the faith he showed in me by delivering.
“That’s why I have been playing like I have been. I have been working hard to show that his belief in me isn’t misplaced. We share a lot because he also played as a centre back.
“The game has changed from what it was back in his days but he has the knowledge of a centre back, which is very helpful and has helped me grow.”
The faith Komphela has shown in Gordinho, helped the 22-year-old overcome doubts that he could fill the void left by Tefu Mashamaite. Gordinho didn’t look convincing at first, forcing Mulomowandau Mathoho to carry the lion’s share of the club’s defensive duties. But Komphela persisted with the lad from Benoni.
Gordinho repaid that faith with solid displays and scoring crucial goals. The centre back is Chiefs’ joint top goalscorer, along with George Lebese, with three goals.
Last month he attended trials with Danish side Aalborg and says the trip was an eye-opener, coming just after he had trained with Fulham’s Under-23s as a favour to Chiefs’ assistant coach John Pantsil who played for the English side.
Those two trips came during the lengthy PSL break due to the Christmas recess and Afcon. The recess came at an inconvenient time for Chiefs as they had just gotten into their groove and registered back-to-back wins to squeeze into the top four, just a point behind top-of-the-log SuperSport United.