These are early days yet and the South African Football Association (Safa) may need the wisdom of Solomon in making the final choice — but according to a public poll instituted by Kickoff magazine, Gordon Igesund is the front-runner in the race to be the next Bafana Bafana coach.
The smooth-talking Ajax Cape Town coach, whose increasing years suggest the nickname of ”golden boy of South African soccer” may have become dated, has received 28,5% of the votes in the ongoing poll.
He is followed by Jomo Sono, a perennial choice in the role of emergency Bafana coach, with 20% of the votes, with renowned Hollanders Guus Hiddink (14,6%) and Ruud Gullit (11,9%) next in line.
Hiddink probably is not aware he is regarded a viable candidate for Bafana, and the current Australian and PSV Eindhoven coach, who gained widespread international acclaim while guiding host nation South Korea to a semifinal berth in the 2002 World Cup, has indicated he has other priorities up his sleeve right now.
Igesund, renowned for guiding three different clubs, Manning Rangers, Orlando Pirates and Santos, to the Premier League title, was, in fact, the choice of the Safa technical committee to become Bafana coach six years ago — but the Safa executive overruled its own technical committee and appointed Trott Moloto instead.
A concerted campaign among certain officials and a section of the media for a South African to be entrusted with the role of Bafana coach for the 2010 World Cup is probably responsible for Igesund and Sono jumping into an early lead in the voting.
But when Safa officials make their choice it could be a decision reached with their heads rather than their hearts, with the best and most qualified man for the job getting the nod.
Following Igesund, Sono, Hiddink and Gullit in the Kickoff poll is former Bafana captain Lucas Radebe with 10,5% of the vote, with Pitso Mosimane gleaning 5,1%, Neil Tovey 4,7%, Terry Venables 4,1% and former Ireland manager Brian Kerr a paltry 0,7%.
Not surprisingly after his debacle as Bafana coach during the African Nations Cup in Egypt, Ted Dumitru has accumulated a net sum of nought votes.
But with the issue of who should guide the South African team still immersed in uncertainty and indecision, it is possible the choice of Bafana coach might emerge from outside the contenders suggested in the current poll. — Sapa