Hodgson new face in the crowd

THE South African Football Association (Safa) should be prepared to pay something in the region of R50-million a year if they are to hire former England coach Roy Hodgson as the new Bafana Bafana mentor.

If the rumour mill and the other fantastic stories doing the rounds are to be believed‚ Hodgson has become the latest name to be linked to the job vacated by the sacked Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba last month.

But it is not clear if Hodgson‚ whose name has curiously appeared out of nowhere as one of the candidates for the Bafana job‚ would be interested in taking a salary cut.

Mashaba earned R500 000 a month, while the well-travelled Hodgson was the bestpaid manager at the 2016 Euro Championship in France‚ which was won by Portugal last year‚ and he earned a whopping £3.5-million (R52.67-million) a year, ahead of the £3.15-million a year earned by secondplaced Antonio Conte of Italy.

Mashaba was sacked late last year with a year still left on his contract‚ which was to run until the end of the 2018 Russia World Cup in July next year‚ following a disciplinary hearing that found him guilty of gross misconduct‚ insubordination and bringing Safa into disrepute.

Last week‚ Carlos Queiroz said he would be interested in returning to the Bafana Bafana hot seat if his current employers‚ the Iran FA‚ accept his resignation.

“At the moment‚ as you can understand‚ I have ethical duties and obligations with my present contract and I am not in a position to make comments about that in a public way‚” he said at the time.

“But if South Africa‚ or any other country‚ remembers your name and trusts your name as a person to coach the national team‚ for a coach it’s always an honour and something really very special.

“You are coaching the flag and the nation and the expectations and the dreams of one entire country.”

Locally‚ Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane‚ who was earlier this month crowned the 2016 Caf Coach of the Year‚ insisted that he was out of contention for the vacant position.

But his boss Patrice Motsepe made things interesting a day after the comments when he said he would consider it his “patriotic duty” to allow the in-demand mentor to ascend to national-team level if he wanted the job.

With Hodgson now suddenly in the mix‚ expect more twists and turns in the coming weeks. — TMG