Baxter boots Da Gama off the Bafana bench . . .
But there is room in the technical team for second assistant coach Thabo Senong
OWEN da Gama’s days as Bafana Bafana’s second-in-command are over. Bafana coach Stuart Baxter has made it clear that he will not have Da Gama as his assistant coach.
“I’ve got nothing personal against Owen. But when Louis van Gaal came to Manchester United did he ask David Moyes to stay on as his assistant?
“If Pitso [Mosimane] were to take over SuperSport United tomorrow, would he ask Stuart Baxter to stay on as his assistant? That’s football life. I come in here and I wouldn’t have the person who was in before as my assistant,” said the 63-year-old.
“That has nothing to do with malice or ill-feelings. If Safa have Owen under contract and want to put him in a different role and Owen agrees, then yeah. But it won’t be with the senior national team because that can’t be.”
Baxter has given his bosses at the SA Football Association a list of the people he prefers in his technical team.
The Sunday Times believes the Briton had a conversation to woo Andre Arendse to become his goalkeeper coach, a role Arendse fulfilled for Baxter at SuperSport. But the former Bafana No 1 turned Baxter down.
The association haven’t engaged with anyone officially, but the Sunday Times understands that Farouk Khan is among those on the list of potential assistant coach.
Baxter wants his first assistant to be an experienced coach who will also serve as a scout and analyst, with the second assistant being a younger coach who can be groomed to take over Bafana one day.
Bafana’s second assistant Thabo Senong could be saved by the work he has done with the national under-20 team in South Korea. Baxter believes it would be fitting that Senong is allowed to grow with this generation of players and possibly take them to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Baxter’s immediate challenge though is to beat Nigeria for the first time in a competitive match when they start their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Uyo on June 10.
The only victory Bafana have over the Super Eagles came under Baxter in the 2004 Nelson Mandela Challenge. That stint prepared him to deal with whatever comes his way.
“I am walking into a minefield,” Baxter said. “I probably know where a lot of the mines are now. I didn’t know that [in my first stint].
“But you can step on one any time. But I want to be here. Everything in life is about risk and reward. I know the risk that comes with this job. The reward — not financially, but the legacy that you can leave — is massive.”
The Super Eagles will go into this match more prepared than Bafana. They drew 1-1 draw with Corsica on Friday and will face Togo in Paris on Thursday. Safa have sent letters to clubs asking them if they can release players early to have more time with them in the absence of a friendly.
“We’re asking for some understanding,” Baxter said. “We can ask [Mamelodi] Sundowns but, understandably, they have to play [Esperance in the Caf Champions League] on Friday. We selected five players from Sundowns in the squad. United have a couple of players and they’re playing in the Caf Confederation Cup. So there are a couple of players that we can’t get early, no matter how much you beg, borrow and plead. We want to get everyone, if we can, on June 1.” Guillermo Satt of Chile during the World Surfing Games in Biarritz, France, this week
I am walking into a minefield. I probably know where a lot of the mines are now I’ve got nothing personal against Owen. When Louis van Gaal came to Manchester United, did he ask David Moyes to stay on as his assistant?