INJURY TIME
THE SA Football Association fired the national team’s head coach ‘Shakes’ Mashaba in December last year, then promised a new man in February. Short of Alex Ferguson, it seemed everyone who’d even looked at a football was in line for the post.
There were press statements, postmatch interviews, more statements, promises, deadlines and then finally … Safa appointed someone who they’d fired previously.
With all due respect, but how has Stuart Baxter, who quite after less than two years in the post having failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, changed that Safa feel he is the coach to take the national team forward, to qualify for the Africa Nations Cup and the World Cup next year?
Then there’s this whole managing of his unveiling. Injury Times don’t regard ourselves as experts on PR, but surely, you ‘unveil’ (or in Baxter’s case get re-unveiled) the person holding such a high profile position by holding a press conference.
Instead there was a statement and it was left to Supersport United’s chief executive, Stan Matthews, to talk on Baxter’s behalf about his appointment.
Safa is waiting until its president, Danny Jordaan, returns from a series of CAF meetings in Egypt before Baxter is ‘unveiled’.
Oh, and if Supersport United reach the Nedbank Cup final on June 24, Baxter will be involved in preparing them for that game, just days after leading Bafana Bafana to Nigeria for an Afcon qualifier.
What a messy start to his second stint as national team coach. Well done Safa ... not!
Talking about messy … how about them Stormers.
Friday’s concession of 41 points against the Hurricanes in Wellington, took the total number of points the Stormers conceded on their tour of New Zealand to 155. They leaked 24 tries. Oh, the generosity. It took Injury Times back to a comment made by flyhalf Robert du Preez way back when the Stormers were still winning matches and everyone in Cape Town reckoned they were contenders.
“Every Thursday we do what we call a ‘Kiwi Day’, just to prepare for them, because we knew that they pose a different threat. We go hard at each other on Thursdays,” said Du Preez.
That remark got played out again when the Stormers famously beat the Chiefs. Now Injury Times doesn’t want to be mean, but perhaps Du Preez and his teammates forgot that every day in New Zealand is ‘Kiwi Day,’ or perhaps every day in New Zealand is Thursday.
This was a strange one, but in the era of ‘#fakenews’ it just goes to show you can’t take anything seriously. Skysports in the UK reported: “South African rugby union player Bryan Habana has taken to social media to dismiss reports he was killed in Paris. The 33-year-old posted a video on Twitter to reassure fans that he is alive and “doing well” after it was claimed he had been shot dead in Paris.
Rumours of Habana’s death began circulating after Houstonchronicletv.com reported the 2007 World Cup winner had been killed by an “unknown gunman” and found dead in a “pool of blood, strangled to death”.
The website, which has no connection with the official website of the daily Texan newspaper houstonchronicle.com, also claims the Queen has banned the Premier League and that Usain Bolt has retired. Habana, however, was quick to put the record straight.
“Hello guys, Bryan Habana here, just checking in with you all,” he said in a video. “Apparently there is a massive rumour or false story going around that I’ve been killed.
“But as you can see I’m all alive, I’m doing well and enjoying the south of France.
“So yeah, all good, it’s actually unbelievably disturbing that people can do stuff like that which has a massive impact on people’s lives.
“So thank you too all of you that have been concerned, but as you can see I’m doing well. All the best, go well, bye!”
Injury Times has always had a soft spot for the great Indian batsmen Rahul Dravid ever since he pitched up at a post-match press conference at the Wanderers drenched in beer following an Indian victory in a Test match.
“Must teach the youngsters how to handle beer properly,” he quipped.
This week, after the team he coaches in the IPL, the Delhi Daredevils, chased 208 to win, the man known as ‘The Wall’ said: “I’m glad that they have not been watching too many videos of me batting, when you need 208 in 20 overs.”
– compiled by Stuart Hess