‘Give him a chance’

The new national soccer coach, who has already been flagged offside before he has even kicked the ball in anger, has at least one thing going for him — most members of his team are Europe-based and therefore the cultural differences would be minimal.

This is the view of former Bafana Bafana striker Phil ‘Chippa” Masinga.

Masinga in 1998 criticised then coach Philippe Troussier for not taking time to learn about the idiosyncrasies of South African soccer. It is history now that the Frenchman took the side to its first World Cup tournament where the team lost in the first round.

Though Troussier’s abilities were impeccable, questions were raised about what in soccer terms is referred to as ‘man-management” abilities.

‘When I criticised Troussier, it was not about his abilities. I thought he did not have enough time to learn about individual players. Sometimes a coach needs to be like a teacher and try to understand how his individual players react to certain things. Troussier needed more time but he did not get it,” said the former Leeds United and Bari (Italy) frontliner.

‘Fortunately for the new coach, it will not be a case of taking a team to a tournament, he will have had time to get to know the team and individual players. I say let us give him a chance and see what he can do … We do not know why the decision [to hire Stuart Baxter] was made, so I won’t question it. It is now up to the players to try and understand the coach and the coach the players,” said Masinga.

The former all-time leading goal-scorer’s views differ with those held by veteran coach and commentator Eddie Lewis who this week said he was ‘astonished” at the announcement, and not only because he did not know Baxter.

‘I believe that Africa is unique,” he said. ‘You need a special knowledge of the local conditions and players,” he continued, noting that it will take Baxter time to adapt.

Lewis said that it will be difficult for players to fully respect someone they did not really know. ‘The guy has to win over the players, the media and the fans, and each of those is difficult to do on its own,” said Lewis, noting that he hoped he was proven wrong.

Lewis believed that Jomo Sono should have been given the contract leading to the 2006 World Cup, with a more thorough search for a suitable candidate undertaken properly. Lewis worked with Sono in 1998, at the Burkina Faso African Nations Cup.

Lewis also questioned the haste with which the decision was reached. The technical committee, convened by Veli Mahlangu, took two weeks to review about 30 applicants before interviewing Baxter this week.

Though the junior football teams have been criticised for not being feeders for the senior team, the appointment of the England youth team coach has sparked guarded enthusiasm among local development coaches.

The former Transnet Schools of Excellence manager and now director of sport and culture in Limpopo, Steve Pila, said: ‘The most important thing this guy must do is to surround himself with people to help him tap into the huge talent available in the country.” 

Pila said he hoped that, if the coach’s mandate is to also develop soccer, the association would first have to put its development structures in order.

‘Until development structures within the South African Football Association are integrated, our youth teams will continue to perform dismally in the youth tournaments,” he said.

Pila said that Baxter’s qualifications meant nothing because in the past highly qualified coaches had not delivered.

Khabo Zondo, former Golden Arrows coach and now designated head of the Sundowns Academy, said: ‘Some coaches come with high qualifications and do not succeed, while others with inferior qualifications succeed.”

Zondo was positive about the appointment, saying that he would not be able to judge the coach now. ‘I cannot judge him with what he has done so far. I respect him as a coach and my association sees him as a person who can take us to the next level,” said Zondo.

If the new coach is to succeed he will have to start by corresponding with local coaches to find out which players are performing well within the local league and which look certain to develop to the national team.