Booth critical of Safa delay over Bafana coach
Former Bafana Bafana defender Matthew Booth believes a failure to appoint a new head coach is not reflecting at all well on the South African Football Association.
Safa have delayed the announcement of a new man since February, when president Danny Jordaan stated that he wanted a replacement for the sacked Shakes Mashaba by the end of that month.
Jordaan also declared at that time that money was no object in the hunt for a new coach, though that appears to be precisely the reason Safa ultimately overlooked big names like Carlos Queiroz and Herve Renard.
SuperSport United have given Safa permission to talk to their coach and former Bafana mentor Stuart Baxter, but the deadline they set is also long gone, and the Matsatsantsa coach has been in hospital this week after suffering a suspected insect bite.
Booth believes that the situation has to be frustrating for Bafana’s current generation of players as they observe from the outside a rather rudderless-looking head body.
“Ultimately you know it is going to be very disconcerting,” says Booth.
“It doesn’t give you much faith in the organisation when after however many days they haven’t found someone to step in. Players want to be settled in their routines.”
Booth adds that part of the problem is that Bafana Bafana is not quite as attractive a proposition as when he was playing.
“When I was playing for Bafana people wanted to coach them and players wanted to play for the team,” he says.
“They were not handing jerseys out willy-nilly. The status of the team has changed. On the positive side, I do see a generation of natural talent that is coming through and we have to take advantage of that. The association has got to get its act together and sort it out with the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup qualifiers coming up.”
Booth also believes that it cannot help any new coach to know they are not Safa’s first choice.
“Imagine being the coach that eventually comes in? They have gone through number one, two, three and four, and you are maybe five or six!”
Booth, however, does think Baxter can be the right man to lead Bafana going forward.
“Many people criticise the fact that he had his chance (Baxter coached Bafana between 2004 and 2005), but I think both Stuart and Pitso Mosimane have matured as coaches,” said Booth.
“I would have a lot of faith in Stuart, Pitso, or Gavin Hunt, those would be my top three.”
