Just when you thought it was safe to sit close to the reserves’ bench, he has returned! Paul Dolezar, master of touchline animation, rejoined Sundowns as coach this week after a spell in Paris recovering from an operation.
What wonderful news for those television producers desperately trying to inject life into Premier Soccer League (PSL) shows made dreary by what is not happening on and off the pitch. The Yugoslav-born, French-speaking coach will change all that.
Life is never dull when he is around, especially if a controversial decision goes against the Brazilians. Watching a volcano erupt is positively boring compared with the Dolezar show, a 90-minute non-stop action special in which anything can happen, and regularly does.
He returns with the PSL delicately poised. Surprise pacesetters Santos are four points ahead of Sundowns, but have played three matches more than the defending champions. Kaizer Chiefs lie third, behind Sundowns on goal difference, Orlando Pirates fourth with plenty of matches in hand and you can bet your mortgage the 2000-2001 champions will come from this quartet.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
It was Sundowns first, Pirates second and Chiefs third last season, and tradition suggests that Santos will fade as the title temperature rises.
As Sir Alex Ferguson and his boys prove year after year in England, strength in depth holds the key to championship success in the modern era of congested fixture lists. And this is where Dolezar, who vacated the Sundowns hot seat in the middle of last year over what can only be described as a childish financial dispute, is sitting pretty (well, he does sit occasionally, for a few seconds).
The Sundowns bench often contains four or five players with international experience like Ronnie Kanalelo, Joas Magolego, Jethro “Lovers” Mohlala, Alex Bapela and Isaac Shai. That this all-star cast struggled so badly, notably in a 2-0 home loss to Santos, under Clemens Westerhof does not say much for the motivational skills of the Dutchman.
Given a CV that includes guiding Nigeria to the 1994 World Cup finals and winning the African Cup of Nations the same year, much was understandably expected of Westerhof when he replaced ultra-excitable Dolezar. But Sundowns never really clicked under the Dutch master, and a 6-1 hiding in Cte d’Ivoire from Africa Sports in the African Champions League was the final straw.
Dolezar was not around to defend his personal property the now-defunct Rothmans Cup which he won twice with Chiefs and once with Sundowns, so the Premiership and the Bob Save Super Bowl are his immediate targets. In the longer term, Sundowns desperately want to get their hands on the African Champions League title after being pipped on goal difference last year by Tunisian club Esperance for a place in the final.
The news that first prize in this continental competition has more than doubled to $1-million (about R7,5-million the last time I checked the exchange rate) will only intensify the desire of all at Sundowns to conquer Africa. To win the Champions League, a club must play 14 matches four qualifying, six mini-league, a two-leg semifinal and a two-leg final with a place in the group phase earning the eight qualifiers at least $200 000 each. Costa do Sol from Mozambique are first up for Sundowns in April and need to be treated with respect despite an uninspiring record in the leading African club championship.
SuperSport United, the only South African team to have played Costa do Sol, had only one goal to spare over a Maputo team not afraid to mix it physically (something Sundowns do not enjoy) and South African footballers have a worrying habit of underestimating opponents. That warning issued, it would be a catastrophe were Sundowns to fall at the first hurdle or the second where the opposition will be provided by Highlanders of Zimbabwe or Young Africans of Tanzania.
A clash with Bulawayo-based Highlanders would surely excite even ridiculously hard-to-please South Africans fans. After the Bafana Bafana vs Liberia debacle at FNB stadium, who knows, though? What we do know is that ambition envelops Sundowns and Dolezar will realise better than anyone that nothing less than the Premiership and the Champions League titles is sufficient.
It is a tall order for any coach, but Dolezar once boasted that not even the giants of North Africa would stop him. He is about to get a chance to put his reputation where his mouth is.