While there was confirmation of a regime change in rugby yesterday following the appointment of Allister Coetzee as Bok coach, the future of his Bafana Bafana counterpart Shakes Mashaba remains uncertain.
In a rare public appearance in his capacity as the South African Football Association (Safa) president, Danny Jordaan, also mayor of Port Elizabeth, hinted that it was unlikely the senior men’s national team mentor would be sacked before the conclusion of what has so far been a disastrous 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualification campaign.
Mashaba, whose contract as Bafana coach runs until the end of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, has failed to guide the side to victory in four qualifiers on the road to Gabon, where the continental tournament will be held in January next year.
“I don’t think the lack of success speaks to the lack of quality in the team. Of course we have to analyse, but these players are absolute performers and we saw that in how they qualified for the Afcon last year in Equatorial Guinea. Everyone praised them in the first half of the opening game against Algeria (which ended in a 3-1 defeat for Bafana),” said Jordaan, who, along with Mashaba, attended the launch of the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup in Sandton.
“Do I think the team has regressed? No. There is a lack of urgency there. They had Cameroon virtually hanging by a thread, but they could not finish them off. Something is missing. What it is, we will have to wait on the report (from the technical committee) and discuss with the coach. But in terms of their ability, the players can compete against anyone on this continent.
“We cannot have a comprehensive analysis of any of the reports now,” Jordaan explained. “And the reason is simple. We still have two matches to go (a trip away to Gambia in June and a home fixture against Mauritania in September). If you write an exam, but still have two more papers to write, you can’t say whether you have passed or failed. You have to wait, even if you believe you are not going to pass. You must go and write those two final papers, and then after get the results and analyse. I think people will agree with that.”
But according to a report at the weekend, Mashaba faces a dressing-room rebellion with several Bafana players convinced that the coach is incompetent in his training methods and that preparation for crucial matches has been second-rate. Jordaan admitted this could be a major concern if proven to be true.
“The difficulty is that we don’t know who those players (who refused to be named) are. But we will meet the players as an association. It is very important that whoever works for you and plays for you must be heard,” the Safa boss concluded.
Jordaan further confirmed that Safa would meet with midfielder Kamohelo Mokotjo, who announced his ‘retirement’ from the national team on his Instagram account. - The Star