‘Players have changed’

Former military man Steve Barker is leading a revolution at Stellenbosch FC and as the nephew of heralded ex-Bafana Bafana tactician Clive Barker, has cut his own successful path in the game. He reveals his coaching philosophy to KICK OFF’s Nick Said, as

KICK OFF: You were born in Lesotho we believe, what is the story behind that? Steve Barker:

Yes, my parents were both working in a casino in Lesotho at the time, though I grew up on a farm in the Free State. Obviously, casinos were not allowed in South Africa at that stage [1967] so my parents lived on the farm but worked across the border in Maseru. When my mother was due to give birth to me she went to the hospital there.

You have a famous uncle in 1996 Africa Cup of Nations winner Clive, but where else did your passion for the game come from?

My whole family was madly into football. Obviously Clive, who has proven himself as a great coach, but my father Lawrie also played, as did their younger brother Arthur. So when you are surrounded by this enjoyment of something, I guess it sticks. My father took me to play for the first time aged five and I would say I quickly developed the love for the game and football became a really important part of my life growing up, and is to this day. Here I still am at the age of 52. Fortunately, I had a bit of talent as a kid, so that really helped with the enjoyment of the game.

You did not have what today we would say is a conventional way into the professional ranks though …

No, not at all. I represented Natal at Under-13 level, where funnily enough the coach of that team was the late [former referee] Ian McLeod. We went to play at the national schools’ tournament that was held in Port Elizabeth in 1980. But my Dad was in the defence force and he was transferred to Windhoek, so I played a bit of football there in what was then South West Africa, now Namibia. Then we moved again to

Potchefstroom and I played for Western Transvaal in the Currie Cup tournament, which was also where I finished my schooling. I got called up for national service and went into the Air Force, and represented the SANDF [South African National Defence Force] for two years running. From there I was picked to play for Benoni Northerns and again went to the Currie Cup, this time with Western Transvaal. I was spotted by Kevin Moody, who was a coach at Wits, and he recommended me to head coach Terry Paine.

You retired a little past the age of 30, so quite young. Why was that?

I spent nine years at Wits and it was a really good club, and then later had a short spell at SuperSport [United]. But you know, all through that time at Wits I was working, because football was really semi-professional.

“HE WAS OLD SCHOOL BUT EVEN IN TRAINING SESSIONS HE WOULD STILL SHOW US HIS ABILITY ON THE PITCH!”

I had joined the Air Force full time and so was based in Pretoria. Every day I would drive to Johannesburg for training, so it was early mornings and late nights. That was OK, but then I also started studying a B.Tech Sports Exercise degree and that was when it really became tough. I had a fulltime job, was studying and trying to fit in a football career at the same time. So, having turned 30 I just decided, ‘you know what, I have had an enjoyable career and won some trophies in football, now it is time to concentrate on my work and my studies’. Added to that, I was still playing for the national defence force teams and became a player-coach with them, so that also planted a seed about coaching as well. I just felt it was the right time.

Who would you say have been some of your coaching role-models, guys who have helped you form your philosophy of today?

Clive, obviously, though we don’t speak that much about coaching. He calls every now and again to congratulate me after a game. But I did follow his career and am very proud of his achievements in the game, at club and country level. You know, in 1986 just before I started my national service, I went to stay in Durban for a while, first with my Mom’s side of the family. I then spent four or five months staying with Clive at the time he was in charge of Durban Bush Bucks and they had players like Professor Ngubane and Calvin Petersen. It was the year after they had won the league, but I got to see Clive first hand working with the players and how he went about his business. It was partly through pre-season and there was a lot of running on the beach, up and down the dunes. Not much tactical work! But later there were other coaches. Terry Paine left a lasting impression on me. He had played at the 1966 World Cup when England won [Paine’s only appearance was in the 2-0 group stage win over Mexico] and had a decorated career at Southampton, so he came with a lot of knowledge. He was old school but even in training sessions he would still show us his ability on the pitch! Another one would be John Latham, also at Wits. He showed me more about the human side of the game, looking after the person first, with the football the secondary part. If you do that, sometimes the football is easier to coach.

So where did your professional coaching career begin?

I took a package and left the defence force in 2006. I had already been coaching the junior teams at Tuks [University of Pretoria], including an Under-15 side that had Aubrey Ngoma and Thokozani Sekotlong, who would go on to play in the PSL. I got a permanent position at the university and started in the academy, but later joined the first team as assistant coach to Sammy Troughton. When he left after a couple of seasons I took over.

You had early success when you took second-tier Tuks to the Nedbank Cup final in 2009. You lost 1-0 to Moroka Swallows, but would you say that put you on the coaching map?

It gave me confidence that I could continue coaching and make something of it, yes. But I also learnt a hard lesson from it. We made the final with players like Andile Jali and Mthokozisi Yende, among others, but that exposure they got meant most of them left [for bigger clubs] at the end of the season. So the next season was very tough and we were fighting relegation having lost so many of our top players. It took about two or three years to rebuild the team, but eventually we got promoted to the Premier League.

It did cement your reputation as a coach who could work with younger players and help them develop …

Throughout my Air Force career of

17 years I was involved in education training and development, so I have always had a passion for that and I think it sometimes transfers into my coaching. I do get a lot of satisfaction from seeing people grow and become better versions of themselves. It is a nice challenge to take a team, especially one that was unfashionable like Tuks, where many people did not expect them to even have a football side, and to have that success. It is hard work taking a team from lower regions to the higher levels. It is maybe every coach’s dream to have a team that is already the finished article and can immediately compete for trophies at a high level. But that is rare. I look at the players I worked with at Tuks, Jali, Bongani Zungu, Bongani Khumalo, and it does give me satisfaction to know I played a part in helping them to grow into the players they are today.

What do you find the most difficult aspect of coaching?

It sounds cliched, but for me the most difficult part is that only 11 players can start and when you have a squad of 24 or 25, you have a lot of disappointed people around you. You know they all have that desire to play and when they are not making the team, you see the stress they are under and the disappointment in their eyes. It is not easy, but you know you have to keep motivating them because their opportunity will come. In a season it just about always does. And then there is the having to say goodbye to players at the end of the season. Those that have been released … you see the effect it has on them and their families. So that is the most difficult part for me, working with the emotions and feelings of the players.

You sound like you have a good relationship with your players, are you a hands-on coach?

I do have a good relationship with them, I like to know how they are doing and how their families are. I speak to them at training, sometimes just to put an arm around them and see how things are. I try to speak to every player at least once a week, just to see what is happening in their lives. But I am also not one of those coaches that likes to control everything. I have a lot of trust and faith in my players and so I am not one to go and spy on them to see that they are behaving themselves. Let them be men, if they let you down, they are actually letting themselves down more than anything. If it keeps happening that is when you step in.

“I TRY TO SPEAK TO EVERY PLAYER AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, JUST TO SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THEIR LIVES.”

Would you say you keenly follow modern coaching trends, or is it about having your own philosophy?

I do believe as a coach you have to grow and develop. Football has changed over the years, not just on the playing side of things. Mentally players are different, they learn differently compared to when I started coaching. Players now want to feel part of

the process and decision-making. I do follow changes and trends that are happening in the game, but am also true to my principles and philosophies. As you get more mature in an environment, you also learn to let go a little. I have very good assistants at Stellenbosch that can put on a [training] session and I trust them. So you create an environment where the players and staff can reach their potential. At Stellenbosch I am a lot more involved in the management side than I ever have been, so in this situation you need to know how best to use your energy.

Who would you say is the best player you have coached?

To single out just one is tough. But Andile Jali would be up there. He is a born winner, he has that sort of self-confidence about him. People can see it as arrogance, but to me it is not. He is able to step up and handle any situation that is thrown at him. As a coach you love that. And then a player like Robyn Johannes, who has this natural understanding and gift for the game with the tactical awareness and presence that he has. That is something that I admire in him. And [former Senegal striker] Mame Niang … his attitude and the professionalism he brought to training every single day was amazing. He is a colossal man and when he sat in the dressingroom and spoke, he would inspire you.

And one who you thought would make it but didn’t?

I only had him on loan, but Masibusane Zongo was with me at Tuks. He was incredibly talented, what he could do with the ball, his range of passing, his dribbling technique to go past players … he just oozed a lot of class.

I really thought he would kick-on and be a top player, but unfortunately he is one who did not reach his full potential. We all know why. I regret I was not able to work longer with him and maybe I could have helped him somehow.

Finally, are there any matches you remember from your coaching or playing career, for either good or bad reasons?

Coaching it would be the 4-3 [second round] win over Kaizer Chiefs on the way to the Nedbank Cup final with Tuks [in 2009]. We travelled to the stadium in the university’s old school 35-seater bus that was on its last legs and when we got there, we see the shiny luxury bus of Kaizer Chiefs. It was such a contrast. Then, when we got into their changeroom we received their team-sheet and we were down as ‘ Wits University’. I think they had played Wits a few weeks prior and just ‘cut-and-paste’, but I said to the players, ‘you know, I think we are being undermined here. We came in a small bus, when we leave we must feel like we are in the luxury bus!’. The whole evening was just fantastic, the atmosphere was superb, there was drama when Jimmy Tau thought he heard the referees and stopped playing as we scored. We were down to 10 men and still won. It was just an amazing night and I think it put us on the map as a club.

And as a tough-tackling midfielder?

Well, to beat Chiefs and Pirates in two cup finals in the same season was pretty special. It was with Wits [in 1995] and we beat Chiefs in the BP Top 8 final when Bradley Carnell scored a brace. Later that season we played Pirates in the Coca-Cola Cup and beat them 1-0. That is quite some achievement for a club like Wits. But another that stands out, for the wrong reasons, was when we went to QwaQwa Stars and [referee] Stuart Gregory was beaten by the fans after he was also punched by [Stars owner] Mike Mokoena! We scored late in the game through Peter Gordon, who went up for a 50-50 ball with their keeper and headed in. Gregory gave the goal but Mokoena was angry and came onto the field and punched the referee. Our assistant coach got involved and retaliated against Mokoena, and then the fans streamed onto the pitch and went after Gregory, who they grabbed in the tunnel and beat up. It was bad. In those days we would drive to games in our own cars, but we could not drive them out of the stadium or we would be attacked. We had to get the Stars players to drive a kilometre or so up the road and then also take us in their vehicles. It was crazy …

“I REALLY THOUGHT HE WOULD KICK-ON AND BE A TOP PLAYER, BUT UNFORTUNATELY HE IS ONE WHO DID NOT REACH HIS FULL POTENTIAL.”