Salmon: we learn too late

Former SuperSport United striker Glen Salmon believes South African players are only learning the basics of football at an advanced stage in their careers.

Salmon is nostalgic for the days when he was a player, where he believes there was better coaching at amateur level.

The 40-year-old coaches Bidvest Wits’ MultiChoice Diski Challenge squad. As a player, he plied his trade in the Dutch Eredivisie and in Greece, before returning to SuperSport United, where he finished his career.

“We (South Africa) need to play more competitively at junior level. When I think back to a lot of the amateur clubs in our time there were a lot of ex-professionals from England who were coaching lower levels here but I don’t see a lot of that anymore. It is the same with Bafana, people like to criticise the guys there. They are very good players, but they are only playing to the best of their abilities. We haven’t exactly been blessed with getting good coaching from a young age, (there is) so much potential, but our players are learning late ... that is the case with our strikers,” explained Salmon.

Salmon returned to South Africa in 2008, earlier than he had planned from PAOK Salonika in Greece because his wife was homesick. Realising the curtain was closing on his football career, the former Rhodesian invested money in a beauty school and hairdressing college, which later closed down. He had also planned to work on SuperSport television after retiring in 2012, but that never materialised, leaving him without a job for a few months before he got an opportunity with the Clever Boys’ technical team.

“When I returned from overseas, coaching was part of the discussion at United, to stay on and also do TV analyst work. But there was change of leadership when I retired and that didn’t happen, it was a scary time, even though I had planned it (retirement) I had to find another solution. Ultimately Bidvest Wits came along, it was an eye-opener, not having an income and paying your monthly bills is tough ... we had bought the business, but we lost a lot of money because people didn’t have money to spend thanks to the recession.”

The 40-year-old believes he gained invaluable experience while playing in Europe with PAOK and Groningen, which benefited him as a player returning to playing in the local league and now as a coach.

“I am not saying it in a bad way, but there is no comparison in South Africa to Europe, there is so much more detail in the game, there is so much more thought in the game, from the pass to every little details, it is taken care of. I learned a huge amount in Europe and people don’t understand unless you play there. When I came back I saw a difference.”