Mamelodi Sundowns never shy away from being flashy and flamboyant. The recent appointment of Bulgarian football great Hristo Stoichkov bears testimony.
Unfortunately, the club’s obsession with foreign coaches has not yielded impressive results on the field. Who can forget the South Americans — Brazilian trendy dresser Djalma Cavalcante and the Argentine pair of Miguel Gamondi and Angel Cappa? What about the controversial Dutchman, Clemens Westerhof, whose claim to fame was taking Nigeria’s Super Eagles to the quarterfinals of the 1994 World Cup, and, quite recently, the pompous Frenchman Henri Michel?
But before them there were also other odd managers — local and foreign — who led the club. Yugoslavian Paul Dolezar comes to mind — the manager who screamed ”him criminal” at referees whenever his side lost a big match.
Or even worse, Stanley ”Screamer” Tshabalala, the architect of the ”shoeshine-and-piano” style of play, who unashamedly hid under advertising boards whenever his side took penalties. In fact, the only time the ”Brazillians” had a good foreign coach was when Ted Dumitru sat on the bench. Temperamental, yet very effective, to date his success at the club remains unsurpassed, even by the standards of the most expensive and flashiest of coaches to come to Chloorkop.
Before the arrival of Stoichkov, Sundowns had been without a serious coach since irate fans forced the police to escort Michel out of a packed Super Stadium in Atteridgeville following a 1-0 loss to Platinum Stars in the Nedbank Challenge three months ago.
But the recent appointment of ”Itso”, as Stoichkov is affectionately known on the streets of Sofia, could prove yet another showy mess by the Sundowns management.
In his newfound status as coach, Stoichkov is yet to taste glory. As head coach of the Bulgarian national side he failed to qualify the team for the World Cup finals in Germany. He later quit, surprising everyone, in March 2007 after a goalless draw at home against Albania resignation that put a huge dent in Bulgaria’s hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008.
Before that, in the latter part of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, he had sparked a massive row with Romanian journalists after making disparaging comments about them and their country.
A month after resigning he was unveiled as new Celta Vigo manager in the Spanish Primera Division. Celta Vigo was languishing at the bottom of the Primera Division and, despite his hyped-up appointment, the club was still relegated at the end of the season. Stoichkov was subsequently sacked for poor results.
In May, weeks before the Sundowns deal was sealed in Johannesburg, the management of Iranian club Abu Moslem confirmed to various international media that a two-year deal had been struck with Stoichkov to lead the Mashad-based club. But the former Barcelona star has unceremoniously refuted any links to the Iranian side and was quoted as saying: ”To be honest, this information is completely wrong… It’s just sheer nonsense.”
His temper has had the better of him much too often. His recent outburst made headlines in the Bulgarian and Spanish media after he allegedly beat up a Bulgarian photographer in a Barcelona restaurant.
During his heyday as a player his competitive drive was contagious. His extraordinary talent, fiery temper and determination to succeed became integral to his game, but often got him into trouble with coaches, referees and sometimes his opponents. The Bulgarian was suspended for two months for stamping on a referee’s foot during his first season at Barcelona — but that act won him the affection of the fans. Despite the suspension, Stoichkov scored 20 goals from midfield that season.
As part of Johan Cruyff’s early 1990s ”dream team”, Stoichkov regularly clashed with his idol. The relationship between the two was so volatile, it was reported that after one stormy argument with Cruyff, Stoichkov lashed out at reporters: ”I am not talking to any of you bastards until November.”
Then known as ”Stoichgol” to the Catalan faithful, Stoichkov registered his name in the history books by winning the Ballon d’Or in 1994, in a team that boasted the overwhelming presence of Romário, Andoni Zubizarreta, Ronald Koeman and Gheorghe Hagi.
”There are only two Christs — one plays for Barcelona, the other is in heaven,” Stoichkov is reported to have said before collecting his award.
With him on board Bulgaria surprised the football order and took an unexpected fourth place at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
According to his mother, he was born ”with a ball between his feet”. This is the same woman who is said to have fainted each time her son scored one of his five goals for Bulgaria in the 1994 World Cup, where he shared the golden boot award with Russia’s Oleg Salenko.
Hristo, as a matter of fact, directly translates as ”Christ” (Sundowns’ saviour in this context). But his track record in human relations on and off the pitch leaves much to be desired and, although comparing Stoichkov with previous unsuccessful foreign coaches at Sundowns is premature, the signs suggest that the coming of Christ could indirectly herald the arrival of a temperamental devil.