The 17-year-old who has applied for the post of Bafana Bafana boss is surely just mocking the South African Football Association (Safa), but his name appears alongside some big names in world football on Safa’s list of 43 formal applicants.
Ruud Gullit, the former Dutch international who won the FA Cup with Chelsea in 1997, had informal talks with Safa a few years ago and has always shown interest in this highly desirable but controversial position.
Other notables on the list are former Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr, Jo Bonfrere, who has coached Nigeria and Cameroon, and Claude le Roy, who won the African Nations Cup with Cameroon in 1988 and took the team to the World Cup in 1998. Le Roy is currently in charge of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Lengendary Liverpool striker Ian Rush and former Tottenham Hotspur manager David Pleat are also trying their luck.
Safa technical committee chief Sturu Pasiya says the committee will not limit itself to these 43 candidates and will thoroughly explore all its options before coming to a decision. ”We are not only considering those names, we are still going to headhunt. We have five people at home we would like to talk to, three in Africa and six in Europe,” says Pasiya.
Meanwhile, more than six weeks after former coach Ted Dumitru presented his Africa Cup of Nations technical report, Safa has yet to bring out its promised ”road map” charting the way forward.
As is his wont in trying times, Safa president Molefi Oliphant has gone to ground, leaving it to the association’s CEO, Raymond Hack, to engage the media and the public on what options the football controlling body is investigating.
So far there is little to show for endless meetings. At the association’s headquarters many plans have been drawn up for how to achieve success in 2010 when the country hosts the World Cup, yet — as one national executive member notes — these plans are ”never implemented”.
In the past few days what has become noticeable, however, is an increase in tension between Hack and the seven-member technical committee.
The committee is miffed that it had to cancel a meeting last week at which the Bafana Bafana applications were to be discussed because Hack gave the forms to Pasiya late.
Technical committee members are also not happy about leaked reports that Hack has had a private conversation with Steve Komphela, asking the under-23 national coach if he would make himself available as Bafana caretaker during the Confederation of Southern Africa Football Association matches next month.
Komphela confirmed the meeting but said nothing concrete was finalised except that Hack had asked him ”if I would be able to help when asked”.
Griqualand West secretary Stoppa Mabula, a member of the technical committee, said: ”In the short meeting we had we queried the issue around what we are hearing concerning Steve Komphela and the Bafana Bafana job.”
Although committee member Sam Masitenyane avoided directly accusing Hack of undermining the authority of the committee, he said the CEO should have discussed matters with Pasiya.
”Most likely, since Komphela is already in the employ of the association Hack feels that it is convenient to ask him to do the job. But Hack must interact with Sturu and clear this with him and also clarify it publicly. Hack cannot appoint coaches,” said Masitenyane.
Former coach Dumitru has accused Safa of wanting to renege on what he said was agreed upon — that embattled SuperSport coach Pitso Mosimane, who was Dumiru’s assistant at the African Nations Cup in Egypt, would continue with the team.
Dumitru said the national association should explain its position regarding Mosimane before ”they mention a new candidate”. He said he had made it quite clear that for the sake of continuity and ensuring that local coaches are ”constantly exposed to international competitions”, Mosimane should be given first consideration for the job.
It is believed that Mosimane, who is in a contractual dispute with his club, was under the impression that Safa would give him the plum position.
Dumitru told the Mail & Guardian that he was convinced that what was happening with Mosimane had ”something to do with his technical role with Bafana Bafana. I have strong feelings that he was banking on continuing with the national team because he was told so.
”I am partially responsible because when I was told that Mosimane was going to remain with the technical team I tried to give him advice.”
Mosimane would not comment.