Gordon itches to get back to job he loves

With six league titles under his belt – one won as a player and five as a coach – Gordon Igesund is one of the most decorated football personalities in the country.

Having spent the last 20 years guiding various teams in the Absa Premiership, Igesund, by his own admission, is still fit enough to sit in the dugout for a “very long time”.

“The word ‘retire’ is not in my vocabulary at this moment. I still have many years left, I am fit and strong, and I am not even thinking about retiring,” a cheerful Igesund told Phakaaathi yesterday.

The 60-year-old has been without a job since he was relieved of his duties at the now relegated Highlands Parks and said he misses the dugout.

“I have asked Mike Makaab (his agent) to look for something for me outside the country. But we’ll see, at the moment I am just having my rest there is nothing going on. I am not rushing into anything. I need to make sure that I am in the right situation.”

Igesund has coached 11 teams and also had a stint with Bafana Bafana where he only lost two of his 14 official matches at the helm. He believes current coach Stuart Baxter is capable of taking the team to greater heights if given proper support.

“Whoever is the coach of Bafana will tell you it is not easy. It is still early days for Stuart but he needs all the support Safa can give and the clubs need to pull in the same direction.

“The point I’m making is that the coaches have to be supported, they need to prioritise what is important. What is important are the qualifiers and I think Stuart will do a good job if he gets the support.

“This is our national team and we need to keep pushing. Now the coaches and the association are supportive and I think we can only do well from here.”

Igesund turned down an opportunity to coach the Zimbabwean national team and he has since revealed that more offers from outside the country have come his way.

“There were some situations that came up in Southern Africa that weren’t quite right for me, but I am looking for something that will be exciting to me.”

When asked if he would be interested in rejoining Orlando Pirates in the future his response was: “There’s a saying that once a Pirate always a Pirate,” he said candidly.

“Professionally, I can’t talk about a job when there’s a coach there. I am sincere in that way. But if you would tell me now that there is no coach at Pirates, and my name is being mentioned and you ask me if I am interested, of course I’d be interested. Pirates are an institution.”

Igesund said he was happy with the emergence of young South African coaches. “There are so many good coaches coming up and some going around. I certainly think that there are lot of coaches with a lot to offer,” he said.

With Mamelodi Sundowns doing well in continental competitions they bid to successfully defend their Caf Champions League title the former Bafana mentor urges more teams to take the Caf competitions seriously as helps the national team.

“I think the growth of football now in the country will depend on taking continental football seriously. Previously our teams did not seem keen but now that has changed in the past few years,” said Igesund.