New Rodney Reiners column
COACHING, as it always seems to be, is, again, firmly in the football glare. From the perennial troubles of Arsene Wenger, the dithering of Orlando Pirates’ management with regard to the position, and the continued search for a new Bafana Bafana victim.
It’s also a timely reminder, especially from a national perspective, that the appointment of a new Bafana mentor won’t solve the critical issues that hamper the country’s most popular sport. The difficulties that confront football in South Africa are long-term – and, until it is properly and fully addressed, the game will continue to lurch from crisis to crisis. There will be short-term gains and quick-fixes, but eventually, irrespective of who’s appointed, we’ll come back to square one.
Last week, after being interviewed by a Dutch journalist, who is currently writing a book on the unique qualities that made Foppe de Haan such a respected coach, I dug up some of the old stuff I had penned about the Dutch legend. In one of the first interviews, he told me: “Development is essential. It’s the lifeblood of how the Netherlands operates; everything works on the same structure, from U15 upwards. All coaches work together, nobody works in isolation. Coaching is part and parcel of the football fabric. From junior to senior, all coaches are encouraged to never be static, to never allow their knowledge to be stagnant. In football, you have never learned enough, there’s always more to take on board. And that is instilled in Dutch coaches.”
At the same time, I’d been reading an article in The Guardian on the incredible success of Italian coaches in England. When (not if, I suppose) Antonio Conte’s Chelsea win the English Premiership, he’ll be the fourth Italian to do so – after Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Mancini and Claudio Ranieri. In response to this, Howard Wilkinson, the last English manager to win the title in 1991-92 (with Leeds United), offered this as insight: “It’s an Italian thing to be different. Italians aren’t slaves to knowledge. They’re slaves to learning. And they are not slaves to conformity. They like an opinion. They’ll agree that two plus two makes four, but they’ll each have a different way of applying it.”
He went on say: “… when you turn up for training in Italy, the coach isn’t expected to make you happy. You’re turning up at school, essentially.”
There, in a nutshell, are the three major stumbling blocks to progress in SA football – the lack of a meticulous, purposeful development strategy; farsighted coaches, who are not just tactically astute and in touch with modern methods, but able to adapt to different situations and circumstances; and, of course, prima-donna footballers, who think the learning process ends with a national call-up.
Apparently, if everything goes according to plan (and remember there is still the decision of an arbitrator on the future of former coach Shakes Mashaba), the new Bafana man will be known very soon. A few heavyweights have been roped onto the selection panel – Benni McCarthy, Lucas Radebe and Clive Barker – but, whoever gets the nod, one thing’s certain: The road ahead is long and arduous and punishing.
Development is an issue the national body has to tackle and finding a coach with the necessary tactical intelligence, foresight and knowledge is probably also within the realm of possibility.
But sometimes fingers need to be pointed at the players. Far too often there’s a lack of pride in performance. The jersey needs to inspire. The new coach needs to ensure, like the Italians, that, when the players pitch up for training, they are “at school” – they’re still learning, they haven’t made it yet, they still have to go out and put in the hard yards, they still have to earn the right to be called up for the next game. Even more importantly, and I know it’s not easy, the coach has to be willing to do unpopular things.