Throw us another one, Milutin!
138 countries he has been to.
Not the finishing bit – we already know that. The 138 countries! To put that figure in perspective‚ the world’s most-travelled man‚ according to various news sources‚ is Canadian Mike Spencer Bown.
It took him 23 years of backpacking to get to all 195 of the world’s countries.
Sredojevic‚ unless he had a spell as an air hostess he’s not told anyone about in a previous career‚ certainly did not have much time for backpacking in-between being a player from 1987 to 1994‚ and coach since.
Which is fine‚ if the coach is exaggerat
But perhaps not so much when it’s made in a reference supposed to make a dig at the standard of South African football.
And especially not when his team‚ having shown some early signs of improvement‚ begin to sag in results.
That starts to smack of – and countryman and Kaizer Chiefs and fellow Pirates coach Vladimir Vermezovic was a repeat offender at this – blaming the football in the country and not the coach.
And then one begins to question just how genuine that big charm offensive has been since Sredojevic’s arrival‚ and glowing praise of his environment.
Because it all starts to sound a little like excuse-making in preparation for things going wrong.
It’s been five months of Micho at Pirates‚ and five months in which you start to question: just where are Bucs still going?
They are in sixth place with a middling 20 points from 15 games in the Absa Premiership‚ and apparently with almost no hope of challenging leaders Mamelodi Sundowns‚ who are on the verge of running away with the title on 28 points from 13.
Pirates’ 2-1 defeat ending the year against Free State Stars at Goble Park on Saturday marked their 10th match with just one victory earned.
In the cups‚ the Buccaneers were not in the MTN8‚ and were knocked out on penalties by Polokwane City in the quarterfinals of the Telkom Knockout.
Granted‚ Sredojevic had only a twoweek preseason having been appointed late‚ in early August.
He has brought a competitiveness to Pirates that was lacking in their hiatus last season.
What he did with Uganda‚ guiding the Cranes to their first Afcon in 38 years‚ was remarkable.
But the PSL is not Uganda‚ Ethiopia or Sudan. In this crazy‚ ultra-tight‚ ultra-competitive league‚ one cannot take an early single-goal lead and try to protect it.
One cannot come out at home as a big three team against lowly opposition and play the counterattack‚ sitting back rather than dominating.
One cannot play from halftime – once the opposition has been sussed out – with a team as poor at finishing as Pirates.
Which brings one back to the 138 countries.
That assertion falls flat at another level – that‚ thanks to Wikipedia and a thing called general knowledge‚ we know some of the countries Sredojevic has been to. He coached in Ethiopia. That country has produced one notable ace striker‚ Saladin Said‚ who has famously tormented Bafana Bafana on more than one occasion.
One of their next-best forwards of the past decade has been Getaneh Kebede‚ a flop in the PSL with Bidvest Wits and University of Pretoria‚ who is now back in Ethiopia.
So perhaps be kind and put that one down to a failure to adjust. Sredojevic also coached in Sudan. Bafana beat Sudan by 5-2 home and away in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers‚ and frankly it looked a contest of men against boys.
So‚ actually‚ coach‚ no. We cannot swallow that one.
Sredojevic might be better served ironing out the flaws in his team’s gameplan‚ rather than pointing to the worn excuse of poor finishing.
Or he might sooner than he had planned be seeking out a 139th country to explore.