Baxter back at Bafana?
NEW COACH HAS ALREADY BEEN APPOINTED, CONFIRMS SAFA Ambitious attempts by Jordaan to lure Renard and Queiroz out of their contracts seem to have failed.
The South African Football Association (Safa) insisted yesterday that they have already tied down a new head coach for Bafana Bafana, with just a few details needing to be sorted out before the announcement is made next week.
“We already have a coach. There are just a few loose ends that need to be tightened up,” claimed Safa Head of Communications Dominic Chimhavi, who would neither confirm or deny that SuperSport United coach Stuart Baxter has been approached.
Safa have delayed the announcement of the new head coach for a couple of weeks now, seemingly as a result of failing to seal their number one target in Carlos Queiroz. Saturday Citizen understands that Safa were stifled as the Iran Football Federation refused to accept Queiroz’s resignation, holding the Portuguese to his contract, which runs until the 2018 Fifa World Cup.
There was also plenty of talk that the association was chasing Morocco coach Herve Renard, with him and Safa president Danny Jordaan both in Zambia this week for the Caf Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations semifinals.
Renard, however, is contracted withMorocco until 2018 and there is no sign yet that he is willing to give up his post as head coach of the Atlas Lions.
Baxter has been linked to a return to the Bafana job for some time now, and is yet to sign a new contract at his current employers, SuperSport United. SuperSport CEO Stan Matthews also failed to answer Saturday Citizen’s calls.
Baxter is currently in Sudan with Matsatsantsa, as they prepare for their Caf Confederation Cup match against Al-Ahly Shendy tomorrow.
He previously coached Bafana between 2004 and 2005, successfully qualifying the side for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, but losing out to Ghana in qualification for the 2006 Fifa World Cup finals in Germany.
The Scotsman has since vastly enhanced his credentials in the local game, joining Kaizer Chiefs in 2012 and winning two league titles in three seasons, as well as an MTN8 and a Nedbank Cup.
After joining SuperSport in January 2016, Baxter wasted little time in adding to his trophy haul, guiding them to the 2016 Nedbank Cup. SuperSport are challenging for the league title this season, and are currently on a record unbeaten run of 19 league matches, though there have also been plenty of draws (ten) in this sequence.
Safa president Danny Jordaan could not be reached for comment yesterday.