SuperSport players reckon it’s party time for Baxter
TO cool him down from what will be a baptism of fire in Lagos, Mandla Masango and his SuperSport United teammates want to take Stuart Baxter to Durban for one last party before the coach is fully consumed by managing Bafana Bafana.
“We want to send him off on a high,” Masango said. “He has been very good to us. We must win the Nedbank Cup for him.
“He has done well in the teams that he has coached in the country, going to Bafana is a great step for him and for South African football as well. I am sad for the club, they lost a great leader. But life goes on.”
Before they can send Baxter off on a good note by winning the Nedbank Cup, Matsatsantsa a Pitori have to go past Chippa United in the semifinal on Saturday at Sisa Dukashe Stadium.
Baxter will juggle planning for that match and Bafana’s clash with Nigeria on June 9 in Lagos in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
SuperSport are driven to reach the final so that they can retain the trophy they won last season.
Masango wasn’t there when that happened. He joined Matsatsantsa in January this year on loan from Danish side Randers.
His presence took to seven the number of players in the Tshwane side that Baxter worked with at Kaizer Chiefs. That familiarity made it easy for Masango to quickly gel into the team.
“Playing football with a smile again boils down to the technical team and the club for giving me the opportunity to come here and play football,” Masango said.
So what does his future entail now that the man who was instrumental in bringing him to SuperSport is leaving?
“I am just focusing on the present. The future will take care of itself,” Masango said.
The club’s decision to register him for the group stage of the Caf Confederation Cup, which they started on Friday against Horoya of Guinea, hints that he will stay beyond this six-month stint with one more year remaining in his contract with Randers.
Baxter won’t finish that continental sojourn though. That’s where Masango and his teammates’ plan of taking Baxter to Durban for one last party, on June 24 for the Nedbank Cup final, comes in. The last time Masango reached that stage, Baxter was still managing Chiefs and the pair finished as Nedbank Cup champions at Moses Mabhida Stadium at the expense of Matsatsantsa.
“It was an amazing feeling to win that trophy,” Masango said. “It took blood, sweat and tears to achieve that. I’ve won every trophy there is to win in the domestic league with Chiefs. It’s a feeling second to none. You can’t go to Pick n Pay and buy that feeling. You have to earn it.”