Bafana oldies face the chop
Coach outlines plans for future
It’s out with the old and in with the new in what appears to be Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter’s last throw of the dice in an attempt to get the national team winning again.
Since Bafana failed to qualify for the World Cup, Baxter has been pondering what needs done moving forward.
The senior national team coach held a media briefing in Johannesburg yesterday to outline his future plans for Bafana.
It would appear that he’s ready to throw caution to the wind by getting rid of old players and going with the youngsters as the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers are set to continue in September.
Bafana are currently on three points in Group E after the first round of qualifiers that kicked off in June last year, having beaten Nigeria 2-0 in Uyo. Libya, who currently lead the group, edge SA on goal difference, and Seychelles, complete the group.
SA will take part in a fournation tournament in Zambia later this month that will involve the hosts, Zimbabwe and Angola. This is where Baxter is set to introduce some young players.
“There are some good experienced players in our squad that I like and I’ve worked with, but they may be casualties,” Baxter stated.
“I’m not sure how many [youngsters] we have, but the attitude must be that if we have them they must go in.”
Bafana’s last squad, which lost 2-1 to Senegal home and away to miss out on the World Cup, had an average age of 28.
That included veterans like Morgan Gould (34), Siphiwe Tshabalala (33), Clayton Daniels (33) and Hlompho Kekana (32).
Baxter believes it’s high time SA took “a chance” with the youngsters.
“I’ve put my report to Safa and it’s not a threat; it’s not an ultimatum. It’s a recommendations for the next two or three years,” added Baxter.