Ntseki hoping against all hope
● Molefi Ntseki (49) might have thrown his name in the hat to be among those vying for the vacant Bafana Bafana job, but the search for Stuart Baxter’s successor is far from being clear about where it is headed.
Ntseki is the interim Bafana coach and will be in charge of the team that he unveiled on Friday to face Zambia in Lusaka on September 7.
It was in that team’s announcement that Ntseki confidently confirmed he will be among those applying for the head-coaching position of SA’s senior national team.
Safa’s acting CEO Russell Paul expects the organisation to have appointed the coach by the time Bafana play another friendly in October, but the whole process might become clearer next weekend when the short-listed names are presented to the association’s executive committee.
“The task-team have started their process of identifying the coach,” said Paul. “This is an ongoing process with the objective to finalise it prior to the next friendly matches in October.”
The four-man technical team, headed by Jack Maluleke, responsible for producing the short list, will do so on Saturday at Safa’s executive committee meeting.
“The minimum of the names we can submit to Safa will be three, but it could rise to a maximum of seven depending on the kind of applications we get,” said Maluleke, who is working with former Bafana defender David Nyathi, coach Sudesh Singh and SA Masters and Legends Football Association president Buddha Mathathe, in the search for the Bafana mentor.
Maluleke, who confirmed Ntseki’s application for the job, added that Safa’s technical director Neil Tovey is also part of his team and will be present when they present the names to Safa on Saturday.
While many in football circles might consider Ntseki a dark horse among those likely to be given the job, he certainly did not mince his words on Friday when he declared his readiness.
“The decision that was made by Safa to have me as an interim coach was based on the experience and understanding of the dynamics of the national team,” said Ntseki, who was a teacher before going into coaching full-time. “Now that I’m seated here, I think my hand is also up.”