Baxter rubbishes claims he failed big acid test

qualifier [campaign].”

Baxter pointed out that he had only been in charge since June.

He said the team had produced good performances in his limited time‚ including the 2-0 away Africa Cup of Nations win against Nigeria‚ World Cup win against Burkina Faso‚ and even the defeats against Senegal.

“I’ve had 40 days working with this squad. I was thrown in the middle of a World Cup qualifier [campaign]‚” he said.

Baxter admitted that the crippling back-to-back defeats against Cape Verde in September had been the result of poor performances.

But the embattled coach was not finished as yet. He levelled an accusation at the Sunday Times that the paper had tried to destabilise his efforts at Bafana “from the beginning”.

He became angered at an assertion that questions about the coach’s future had to be asked by the media as they were “being asked by all South Africans”‚ a viewpoint that Baxter disagreed with.

Baxter replaced Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba‚ sacked in December for disciplinary reasons‚ in May.

Mashaba had begun South Africa’s World Cup campaign with an away draw against Burkina Faso and home win against Senegal.

The Senegal result was annulled by Fifa in September‚ after the Cape Verde defeats‚ due to match manipulation by Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey. — DDC