Shakes dodged a bullet...For Now
By Herrold Lamola (@Lamola_eitcHDee)
Bafana Bafana mentor, Shakes Mashaba, might have survived the chop and still be in charge of the South African senior national team but he knows he is not the right man for the job.
Shakes has failed dismally to take Bafana Bafana to the Afcon 2017. Bafana was supposed to qualify with a 100% record from an easy Group M with the likes of Gambia, Mauritania and Cameroon. One can argue that Cameroon is one of the African football powerhouses.
This is not a Cameroon of yesteryear. The Indomitable Lions that would roar,kill and conquer. 'The limping indomitable Lions' as referred to the West African side on my previous blog, Cameroon is dead. A toothless and dying lion. Bafana managed to take a lead twice against Cameroon but failed to protect their lead on that two occasions away in Cameroon. Bafana had no reason not to qualify for the major continental show piece with such opponents in their group. Bafana Bafana had to do exactly what Cameroon did to qualify. Show no mercy, show no respect.
Mashaba's mandate was to qualify for Afcon 2017 and World Cup 2018 but he has missed out on the first one already. Bra Shakes is not the right man to lead us to Russia 2018. There is no right time to fire a coach. The moment the results aren't coming that's the perfect moment to fire a coach. South African Football Association (SAFA) has to do the right thing and give Mashaba a boot.
Better the devil you know than the devil you don't: But we dont know the devil we are with. Mashaba has nothing to lose now. He is just at Safa to see his contract out. Bafana failed to qualify for Afcon against minnows of this continent how can he do well against the powerhouses of Africa with the likes of Burkina Faso and Cape Verde?
Our aim is to do well in Qatar 2022. Moscow is not in the picture here. If we really want to conquer the world in 2022, then development has to be part of our vocabulary.
Vision 2022 a step in the right direction.
Our under17 qualified for the 2015 Fifa World Cup held in Chile and they were promoted to the Under-20s. The former Amajimbos squad qualified for African Youth Championship (Under20 Afcon). There is continuity there. Why don't we keep that crop and use them at the next Olympic games as our under-23s then by 2022, they will be our Senior national team.
The system that is used at our national team is right. Bafana coach (Shakes Mashaba) is assisted by the Under-23 Coach (Owen Da Gama), then the Under-23s is being helped by the Under-20 coach (Thabo Senong) and the under17 coach (Molefi Ntseki) is sharing ideas with the Under-20 coach. This means all our national teams are using the same philosophy.
Mashaba is not only fighting with members of the fourth estate but his players as well. Kamo Mokotjo, Kermit Erasmus and May Mahlangu are some of the players that have fell out of favour with the coach. Mokotjo has clearly stated that he don't wanna play under Mashaba. Players need to fight for a coach not fighting him.
Bafana Bafana's failure is Mashaba's fault. Shakes justified his exclusion of Keagan Dolly out of his squad saying the Young Bafana skipper has Under-23s commitments. But Rivaldo Coetzee has the same commitments. Dolly was roped in for Bafana Bafana's encounter against Gambia and he showed class as he netted a brace to help Bafana secure a 4-0 win.
There is no goals scoring problems at Bafana Bafana. Goals-shy is a thing of the past. Our midfielders can bang all important goals. Hlompho Kekana, Mpho Makola, Mandla Masango and Keagan Dolly can score goals. Players need to embrace the badge on their jerseys.
Shakes Mashaba quotes and contradictions.
1. Shakes used all his three goalkeepers in Equatorial Guinea. "I will always rotate my keepers."
We used one goalkeeper during the 2017 AFCON qualifiers. Only Itu Khune has featured in all the games.
"Every South African citizen with a green bar-coded ID, is eligible to play for Bafana."
"We call-up players based on Big Match Temperament (BMT)."
Siyabonga Zulu was club less when he was called up to the national team. He got stage frightened and was red carded in the early minutes of the game.
No Big Match Temperament.
Shakes ticks all wrong boxes
1. No permanent captain
2. No penalty taker
3. Not doing research on opponents
4. Engaging in fights with the media
5. Not playing a father-figure role to his players.
6. Self contradiction
7. Attending PSL matches but selecting players who aren't playing.
Bafana Bafana mentor, Shakes Mashaba, might have survived the chop and still be in charge of the South African senior national team but he knows he is not the right man for the job.
Shakes has failed dismally to take Bafana Bafana to the Afcon 2017. Bafana was supposed to qualify with a 100% record from an easy Group M with the likes of Gambia, Mauritania and Cameroon. One can argue that Cameroon is one of the African football powerhouses.
This is not a Cameroon of yesteryear. The Indomitable Lions that would roar,kill and conquer. 'The limping indomitable Lions' as referred to the West African side on my previous blog, Cameroon is dead. A toothless and dying lion. Bafana managed to take a lead twice against Cameroon but failed to protect their lead on that two occasions away in Cameroon. Bafana had no reason not to qualify for the major continental show piece with such opponents in their group. Bafana Bafana had to do exactly what Cameroon did to qualify. Show no mercy, show no respect.
Mashaba's mandate was to qualify for Afcon 2017 and World Cup 2018 but he has missed out on the first one already. Bra Shakes is not the right man to lead us to Russia 2018. There is no right time to fire a coach. The moment the results aren't coming that's the perfect moment to fire a coach. South African Football Association (SAFA) has to do the right thing and give Mashaba a boot.
Better the devil you know than the devil you don't: But we dont know the devil we are with. Mashaba has nothing to lose now. He is just at Safa to see his contract out. Bafana failed to qualify for Afcon against minnows of this continent how can he do well against the powerhouses of Africa with the likes of Burkina Faso and Cape Verde?
Our aim is to do well in Qatar 2022. Moscow is not in the picture here. If we really want to conquer the world in 2022, then development has to be part of our vocabulary.
Vision 2022 a step in the right direction.
Our under17 qualified for the 2015 Fifa World Cup held in Chile and they were promoted to the Under-20s. The former Amajimbos squad qualified for African Youth Championship (Under20 Afcon). There is continuity there. Why don't we keep that crop and use them at the next Olympic games as our under-23s then by 2022, they will be our Senior national team.
The system that is used at our national team is right. Bafana coach (Shakes Mashaba) is assisted by the Under-23 Coach (Owen Da Gama), then the Under-23s is being helped by the Under-20 coach (Thabo Senong) and the under17 coach (Molefi Ntseki) is sharing ideas with the Under-20 coach. This means all our national teams are using the same philosophy.
Mashaba is not only fighting with members of the fourth estate but his players as well. Kamo Mokotjo, Kermit Erasmus and May Mahlangu are some of the players that have fell out of favour with the coach. Mokotjo has clearly stated that he don't wanna play under Mashaba. Players need to fight for a coach not fighting him.
Bafana Bafana's failure is Mashaba's fault. Shakes justified his exclusion of Keagan Dolly out of his squad saying the Young Bafana skipper has Under-23s commitments. But Rivaldo Coetzee has the same commitments. Dolly was roped in for Bafana Bafana's encounter against Gambia and he showed class as he netted a brace to help Bafana secure a 4-0 win.
There is no goals scoring problems at Bafana Bafana. Goals-shy is a thing of the past. Our midfielders can bang all important goals. Hlompho Kekana, Mpho Makola, Mandla Masango and Keagan Dolly can score goals. Players need to embrace the badge on their jerseys.
Shakes Mashaba quotes and contradictions.
1. Shakes used all his three goalkeepers in Equatorial Guinea. "I will always rotate my keepers."
We used one goalkeeper during the 2017 AFCON qualifiers. Only Itu Khune has featured in all the games.
"Every South African citizen with a green bar-coded ID, is eligible to play for Bafana."
"We call-up players based on Big Match Temperament (BMT)."
Siyabonga Zulu was club less when he was called up to the national team. He got stage frightened and was red carded in the early minutes of the game.
No Big Match Temperament.
Shakes ticks all wrong boxes
1. No permanent captain
2. No penalty taker
3. Not doing research on opponents
4. Engaging in fights with the media
5. Not playing a father-figure role to his players.
6. Self contradiction
7. Attending PSL matches but selecting players who aren't playing.
Great read this! Neal Collins
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