Dear Phillipe:…It certainly has not taken you long to become a household name in South Africa. One week to be precise. Snubbing the media, intimidating and humiliating players. What a start!
I know you were critical of the South Africa media long before you set foot on our soil because I read your interview with Emmanuel Maradas, the editor of African Soccer magazine.
In case you have forgotten, this is what you said during a question-and- answer session with the highly respected and influential doyen of African soccer journalists:
“The South African team are surrounded by many other partners, ranging from the business and political spheres to the media. The players have to put up with tremendous pressures. They are pursued everywhere by the media.
“There is a French proverb which says that a profusion of riches hurts nobody. But I think they have almost too much: in a child, abundance can encourage bad habits.
“So I need to get the players back to the pitch, stripped of all the interference, and return to the football fundamentals.”
A visitor from Mars reading this would assume that hordes of South African journalists eat, drink, play and sleep with Bafana Bafana. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Even if the media could afford the luxury of such a relationship, the players, the coaches, the technical staff and officials of the South African Football Association would not permit it.
The truth is that the media assemble ahead of each training session, watch it from the sidelines and speak to the coaches and players later. That was the system with “Screamer” Tshabalala, Augusto Palacios, Clive Barker and Jomo Sono.
It is a perfectly normal relationship, similar to that in Europe, except perhaps for the fact that in sunny South Africa the work gets done outdoors while standing.
Where South Africa does differ from Europe is that meetings with Barker or Sono continued until each question was answered, while a coach like Glenn Hoddle in England will allow a predetermined amount of time.
Individual interviews with South African players are arranged by contacting the player and organising a suitable time and place to talk. I am not aware of one Bafana Bafana star who has been hunted down for his words of wisdom. So please, Monsieur Troussier, no more of this “pursued everywhere” nonsense.
If, on the other hand, you said there was a need for a more structured approach to media relations, I would agree.
As for allegations made by most of the 20 players called up for the first local camp last week, I do not support what you did but I do sympathise with you and can easily understand why you lost your cool.
Regular readers know how often I have criticised the standard of domestic football, the impoverished efforts at scoring from free kicks, the poorly taken corners, the inability of teams to string together more than three passes.
Philippe, you came face to face with this unhappy situation last week and it must have been quite a shock.
I believe the players made one mistake too many and you lost your cool.
Perhaps you did not realise there were reporters, including former Bafana Bafana striker Marks Maponyane, present, and it was their eyewitness accounts that triggered trouble for you.
Your attempts to dodge the issue come straight from a politician’s manual and if anyone needed convincing that you crossed the line between psyching and intimidation it came in a Cape Times article.
Asked whether you had intimidated any players, you replied: “It depends.” If you had not intimidated any players beyond the accepted level of psyching, your answer would have been “No”.
I am sure you realise that the media revelations could actually work in your favour, just as Sono turned the disastrous preparations for Burkina Faso to his advantage. Trouble is often a good team builder.
It is also pleasing to learn from players who attended both camps that you have “quietened down” and are behaving more rationally this week. No matter how poor a player may be, he deserves respect.
Philippe, I wish you, assistant Trott Moloto and the players well and hopefully the camp in Switzerland next week will run smoothly. We look forward to the squad you will choose for the friendly with Zambia on May 20.
Respectfully,
Andrew Muchineripi