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LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

As one faithful reader who began buying the Soccer Laduma newspaper since its inception, I would like to bid my farewell to Mr Peter du Toit. I recall how I used to buy five newspapers, all soccer publications, before ‘meeting’ Soccer Laduma, but I was missing something. But the arrival of Soccer Laduma changed things for me. I enjoy it so much that it has been like a school for me. Even my grasp of English has improved so much. This newspaper has become like a family tradition to us. All the members of this newspaper are greatly important to us and are our soccer family. When it’s a public holiday and I can’t get a hold of the newspaper, the disappointment gets too much to bear, as I always look forward to reading my weekly edition. Soccer Laduma is my comedy show – you can find me sitting alone reading and in stitches. I enjoy everything, from other readers’ opinions, players’ interviews etc. Lastly, I’d love to say belated Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and I hope you enjoyed your day. Joseph Maseloa, via email

BATTERED AND BROOS…

While Hugo Broos is a decent coach, he will not solve Bafana’s immediate problems. Depending on how SAFA treat him, he may not succeed at all. Our football problems are vast and run deep. South Africa is excellent at being inconsistent – from organising a World Cup to failing to arrange proper kit. A coach is not our biggest problem, but coaching and training players is. Bad administration worsens our predicament. Besides SuperSport, which PSL team has a proper youth academy? Does Ikamva still function properly? PSL players get coached by three or four coaches per season. Will we ever have the national identity of football that people want? Ntseki was under-experienced for the Bafana coach position. However, his results were not disastrous, and COVID-19 restrictions made things worse for him. SAFA’s mismanagement compounded his woes. With Broos now in charge, will he handle SAFA’s bad administration and cope with PSL players whose coaching and training seems to be regressing as compared to yesteryear? Nay, methinks. Akhona Ndletyana, via email

This appointment took us by surprise. SAFA never cease to amaze. Not that I have anything against foreign coaches, but our local coaches are as good. The last foreign coach to have benefitted this country is the late Dumitru. He never tried to change our players’ style of play. If you take a closer at the log standings, the top three teams are coached by Mzansi-born coaches. The last coach to have tasted success with our national team is Barker. What did Quieroz, Parreira and Santana achieve with the national team? Had Barker been allowed to go with the boys to France in 1998, he’d have done much better than Troussier. Does Broos know who our best performers are? Does he know who Mzansi’s exciting young prospects are? For him to say players over the age of 30 are at risk of not being selected in future proves he’ll take us nowhere. Maradona once said, “In football, there’s no young or old players. Instead, there are good and bad players.” That said, I think the problem isn’t with the coaches or players, but the SAFA top brass. Over to you, fellow Soccer Laduma Readers’ WhatsApp Group members.

Tente Mokoka, Sepharane

Can someone tell us what is SAFA’s vision regarding the Bafana coach?

They’ve hired Hugo Broos, who is 69 years old, for five years. It means at the age of 74, he will still be calling the shots at our national team. Retirement age in general is 65 years, meaning he is far beyond retirement, yet has been awarded a five-year contract. Are we really going to qualify for the World Cup? Danny Jordaan and his entire executive should just step aside and hand SAFA leadership to people who have passion for football, not for money and fame. South Africa has so many young and capable coaches, unlike old Broos. Our soccer deserves the best. Mosa Mothobi, Ga-Rankuwa

We have been served a very hot pie. I would have preferred Benni to take over the Bafana coaching job. His appointment was only going to benefit the national team. I now understand why some people hate football. To hell with SAFA. Enough said. “Bhotsotso” Mkhize, Eshowe, Mpaphala, KZN

Welcome to your new position, Mr Hugo Broos. I wish you everything of the best on that hot seat of Bafana. I hear you are complaining about the players over the age of 30. Good luck in fixing that. You must also not forget that we as the tax-paying citizens are very concerned about your age as well as the length of your contract. Hopefully you are not just here to pocket the money like Parreira and Santana did. I can’t wait for the day when SAFA will finally put the needs of South African citizens at the forefront and do the right thing by firing themselves!

Siyabonga Nkalambela, Delft

If insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results, false hope is doing a different thing and expecting better results right away. We need to give Hugo Broos the benefit of the doubt. The pessimism surrounding his appointment is understandable because the World Cup qualifiers are lurking on the horizon. Afcon qualification failure was the last straw. Bafana need someone who understands the team’s blueprint of success and knows our players like the palm of his hand; alas, a foreign coach needs time to acclimatise and, before you know it, it’s over. Not to mention that foreign coaches have a history of milking SAFA’s coffers dry, with not much to offer. Broos has been given five years to restore a winning mentality in the Bafana camp, but that seems like a far-fetched dream. I saw what he did with Cameroon, save to say our players aren’t cut from the same cloth as the West Africans. Our style of play is complicated for foreign coaches. I suppose it’s due to how we structure our football. Even European clubs find it difficult to recruit from our shores. This in no way diminishes the greatness in our midst, make no mistake. Wandile Mtana, Mbala ka Nkqoshe, Uitenhage

I’m flabbergasted at the chorus of pessimism that greeted the appointment of Hugo Broos as Bafana coach. The discontented voices are unanimous in calling for a local coach. I subscribe to the views of the late Nelson Mandela that it doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white as long as it can catch mice. Broos has an Afcon title under his belt, among other achievements, and that, to me, indicates he can catch mice. Local is not always lekker. I know I may not be comparing apples with apples, but I would like to use Kaizer Chiefs, a privately-owned entity, as a case study. Stuart Baxter, an unknown coach in his first season at Chiefs, won a league and a cup, whilst Gavin Hunt, a wellknown local coach, is stuttering in his first season at Chiefs. Abroad, Frank Lampard, who is Chelsea’s blue-eyed boy, failed at Chelsea, while Thomas Tuchel, a foreigner, is on the verge of winning the Champions League. People only fail after they have been given a chance to prove themselves. Let’s be a positive nation and for once stop casting aspersions at every opportunity we get. George Sithole, Honeydew

Look, I never wanted Benni to vacate his AmaZulu FC post in favour of the confused and underachieving SAFA, mainly because they were going to tarnish his ever improving CV, which he is working so hard on, like they did with Pitso, whom they obviously now wanted back. If reports of Benni wanting his own trusted technical team (which is reasonable), a visible Bafana technical staff presence in every PSL game, a regular monitoring of European-based players, a weekly recorded and updated player information, amongst other things, were a deal breaker, then I will never have faith in the current SAFA leadership to take the country forward. It’s clear that SAFA does not share Benni’s vision. But having said all this, I really hope Hugo Broos gets it right. We have been losing with the so-called experienced players and if the coach loses with young and inexperienced players, I will give enough time to groom them as it’s not entirely his fault that we find ourselves in the mess we are in.

Lucky Khunou, Meriting

The constant failure by SAFA and Bafana must be attributed to the ineffective leadership of Danny Jordaan. It baffles me why the man is still holding on to his position. The decline in the performance of our beloved Bafana speaks to the vision that Danny no longer has. If our junior national teams are doing well in qualifications, why is that not translated to Bafana? It is my understanding that the junior teams are the feeders to Bafana. Danny has lost the plot. He is operating SAFA as a political organisation, where he ‘deals’ with those that are opposed to his views. I will gladly support a motion to remove the old man from his duties. Andile Craig Lengisi, via email

When I read from this reliable source that Bafana’s next coach would be Hugo Broos, I couldn’t stop myself from a huge laughter. A 69-year-old being given a five-year contract, while up-and-coming SA coaches raised their hands to help this nation. I mean, the old man’s first words were “to build”. We have been building ever since 1998, if not 2002, until now, and no foundation has been laid. SAFA don’t care at all about Mzansi people and Bafana supporters. I’m glad I never associate myself with these so-called losers who are just hellbent on pocketing money at our expense. Roger Stemele, Wale Sandawana, Alice

Let me welcome Hugo Broos as the new Bafana coach. I understand that he was not the man Danny Jordaan was looking for as he wanted Carlos Quieroz like it happened a few years ago before Shakes Mashaba was hired. I did some digging on Broos and it seems he is a knowledgeable coach, having worked in his native country and in Africa, winning the 2017 Afcon with Cameroon. But what concerns me is: did he accept the offer on condition that he be given full control of the team so he can implement his philosophy or was he hired just like some of his predecessors who were given the job and told how to manage the team by their superiors at SAFA House? If the former is the case, I certainly hope SAFA will help with whatever development plan he might propose going forward since he has been given a five-year contract to try and change the fortunes of our national team. Leponesa Chacha, Botshabelo

Talk about birds of the same feather – Bafana and Chiefs. The slight difference is that the former is looking for quick fixes and the latter is wandering in the doldrums with solutions right at their disposal. In my previous epistle, I stated that Bafana need to go to the drawing board by visiting countries like Brazil to copy their style of development and come back with a 20-year plan, like USA did quite a while ago. Look at USA today and tell me what you see. If you are a soccer follower, I need not elaborate. This Hugo Broos bloke is yet another disaster waiting to happen. The first step in achieving this is to spruce up SAFA House and instal fresh blood. As for Chiefs, theirs is to remove Hunt and get someone who knows their culture because they have a foundation of good youngsters and a few good players who are being coached wrongly. I suggested Da Gama. Tinker and Baxter are available too. The less said about the acquisition of players, the better. How on earth do you buy Gamildien? Chiefs need defenders to stabilise the team, not the nomadic Gamildien. He’s old for crying out loud and his form is dwindling at Swallows as we speak. What the hell is wrong with Chiefs scouts!