Trophy would complete Baroka’s fairy tale
Baroka are proving to be another feel good South African story. The Limpopo-based side’s rise from the doldrums to the country’s top league is one that puts a smile on your face and they are continuing to grow both as a brand and a club.
It started when they beat Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs and Moroka Swallows in the Nedbank Cup at the time under Sello Chokoe’s guidance. What was exciting about them then was that they played attractive “kasi flavoured” football and Chokoe got us all intrigued. He was very young, 27 at the time if I’m not mistaken and always had a white glove on his left hand.
The white glove was a subject of so many debates as some felt it carried some powerful magic portion which was the reason they managed to beat the mighty Amakhosi and the Dube Birds consecutively. Unfortunately their run came to an end at the hands of Black Leopards in the semifinals.
They shot to prominence again when they won promotion to the Absa Premiership with a number of games to spare – this time under Kgoloko Thobejane. The likable coach was making all the right noises and got everyone to take notice of Bakgaga. His dancing after the team had scored was one of the things fans looked forward to.
For a while, Thobejane was good for the Baroka brand as his quotable quotes ensured the team were always on everyone’s lips.
Who can forget the “football can kill you real death” quote? His contribution to building the club into the brand it is today can never be forgotten.
But his ignorance – he didn’t seem too keen to upgrade his
Sibongiseni Gumbi
coaching skills with some formal training and proved to be his undoing.
He believed in the old ways of coaching, that if you have the support and confidence of the players that you are going to be alright. But modern football is too demanding and competing against highly qualified coaches like Pitso Mosimane was fast proving to be too much for Thobejane.
He was then relieved of his duties. But before that the club tried to help him by hiring tactically inclined assistants but it didn’t work out.
The club were at a stage where they needed to grow even more and not be mere participants in the Premiership but become a formidable and competitive side.
Then enter Wedson Nyirenda. Nyirenda is a well-known brand in South African football. He was a lethal striker in his playing days at Kaizer Chiefs.
But that had been a long time ago. He was now a coach. He had been in charge of the Zambian national team for over two years and had built the team into a formidable side.
He was a perfect fit for the Baroka profile. He was not yet a big name so he would not be bigger than the club – which is the mistake some teams make. They hire a big name coach and he becomes – or rather feels – bigger than the club and ends up spending more time telling the bosses how they should run the club than doing what he was hired for.
Wedson is a young coach keen on making a name for himself and fits the Bakgaga profile. He faced some turbulent times in his first few weeks at the club and there were rumours that he would be fired.
But he has since stabilised the side and beating the likes of Mamelodi Sundowns and Bidvest Wits to get to the Telkom Knockout final must give his bosses hope that they didn’t make a mistake in putting their faith in him.
He meets Orlando Pirates today at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in what should be an exciting Ziwa Mo final and he could etch his name into the history books by becoming the first coach to guide Bakgaga to their first trophy. If it were to happen, it would indeed be a beautiful story for both club and coach.
Good luck to both teams.