‘GIVE MASHABA THE RIGHT HELP’

IDON’T think that the South African Football Association (Safa) should fire Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba. Now that you have picked your jaw from the floor and have finished insulting me, let me explain. It’s pointless to change the coach with a month to go before the World Cup qualifiers start. The new man will come in and want time to implement his philosophy.

That means should he fail to book us a ticket to Russia, he will have a good excuse by saying that he didn’t have much time with the team. Mashaba has had time, having been in charge of the team for two qualifiers. He was instantly successful in the first, the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers, while the second, for the 2017 Afcon, was disastrous. That’s why he reminded journalists at Mbombela Stadium on Friday night that this was the first time he had failed to guide a South African national team to a major tournament.

But saying that Safa should keep Mashaba doesn’t mean that nothing should change. The coach needs to stop his outbursts because it alienates the little supporters he has. He also needs to have his technical team strengthened. Mashaba is old-school and he won’t change how he does things any time soon. That’s why he needs to be surrounded by coaches who are in-tune with modern trends. But it shouldn’t end there because Thabo Senong is also in touch with modern trends and has a good eye for talent. It should be people who can challenge the coach’s decisions and are allowed to implement their ideas.

Training sessions under Mashaba are repetitive and out-dated. Someone with fresh ideas needs to be roped in while Mashaba is used to his strength. He is a great motivator who can inspire players to go through a brick-wall for him. He also has an eye for talent. But he shouldn’t be surrounded by a technical team that will simply agree to his every suggestion. He should be surrounded by people who will complement the things he lacks, like someone who will do proper research on their opponents. That will avoid situations where the team prepares to play on grass only to be greeted by an artificial pitch that they didn’t prepare for.

If this is done and the team doesn’t qualify for the World Cup then Safa should get rid of Mashaba.