Money no object
POSITION: WELL-KNOWN NAMES THROW HATS INTO RING
Danny Jordaan insists money will not provide an obstacle as the South African Football Association (Safa) pursue a coach who can lead them to the 2018 Fifa World Cup and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Safa met on Saturday at the Wanderers Club to discuss the way forward following the sacking of Shakes Mashaba.
They have laid out 11 criteria for the new coach, from ideas as vague as “excellent understanding of the South African playing philosophy, to statements of the obvious like “good track record,” to at least one specific requirement stating “international coaching experience, especially African competition (min between five and 10 years).”
“Nowhere do we mention affordability,” said Jordaan, who added that he hopes to have a new coach in place before the end of the month.
“When you say ‘can you afford it?’ I am asking you ‘can we afford not to afford it when someone is clearly the best man for the job?”
Jordaan appears set on hiring a coach from overseas, and says the new man will be “head-hunted” despite a raft of CVs having already been sent to Safa’s offices.
These include former Italian national team coach Giovanni Trapattoni, former Manchester City coach Roberto Mancini and, more in line with Safa’s listed requirements, former Egyptian coach Hassan Shehata and former Algerian and Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac.
Jordaan stressed the need for not just the coach to be a foreigner, but for most of Bafana’s squad to be made up of overseas-based players. Mashaba was certainly controversial in his treatment of some overseas-based players.
The new coach’s first job will be two friendlies at the end of March, with Bafana facing Guinea-Bissau at home and Angola away.