Editor's Column - Vuyani Joni
In the world of South African football coaching, where pre and post-match interviews generally sound rehearsed and predictable, Baroka FC's coach, Kgoloko Thobejane, has brought in a breath of fresh air! The Bakgaga mentor is clearly cut from a different cloth to the rest and doesn't read from the script. He is full of confidence and dishes out unpredictable quotes whenever he shares his views. More importantly, he is a relaxed and calm figure on the touch-line and his demeanour evidently rubs off on his players. He is the kind of coach who doesn't have the term 'pressure' in his vocabulary. While some may think he's arrogant because of his daring predictions, if you listen to him carefully without judgement, you will realise that the man is a humble soul who is simply supremely confident. He keeps it simple and straightforward without complicating things. The self-assured and care-free football played by Baroka is what people want to see every game. It's reminiscent of the old Lamontville Golden Arrows, whose game revolved around the township-style and was full of flair and skill. Imagine being coached by someone who enjoys the game as much as Thobejane does – a coach who makes it his duty to ensure that his players enjoy playing above all else. This is not a big-name coach cutting his teeth in the professional ranks, yet he doesn't care who his team comes up against. He doesn't seem to lose sleep over his opposition or become overwhelmed by the prospect of facing some of the best in the land. He doesn't even mince his words when asked for predictions, and that's an attitude that is definitely imparted to his players. Despite the pressure that comes with playing in the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup and the automatic PSL promotion race which is still playing out, Thobejane remains confident of succeeding on both fronts. His juggling act has proven to be a big success so far, with Chippa United, Golden Arrows and Polokwane City having already fallen victim to his troop of giant-killers. It is now only Stuart Baxter's SuperSport United that stands between Baroka and a place in the Nedbank Cup final. Thobejane has so far successfully absorbed the pressure and has remained calm, while respecting his more-fancied PSL opponents. One of the best things about this coach is that he plays without fear and it shows in the way his charges are free to try anything on the field, without fearing retribution by the coach stalking the touchline. This is quite the opposite of a situation which transpired many seasons ago when a player missed an opportunity against Bidvest Wits at Bidvest Stadium. His reaction after that miss pretty much summed up what happens behind closed doors. Sprawled on the ground, the striker covered his face with one hand and turned towards the bench, peeping through his fingers to see the coach's reaction. He obviously knew the coach would be going crazy after that miss and he just couldn't face him. With Thobejane, it is a complete opposite, and it was really refreshing to see how the coach interacted with his supporters who sang their lungs out against City in the Polokwane Derby. He sang along and even danced while the game was on. It was an extraordinary sight of someone really enjoying the Beautiful Game. It's what we need…it's what this game needs! What this game also needs is greater support for our teams taking part in CAF competitions. These teams should take priority, as they are representing not only themselves, but the country as a whole. At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, I strongly believe that the PSL and SAFA should do more to support our continental competition participants. As things stand, teams are actually forced to choose between domestic competitions and CAF competitions. This is an unfortunate state of affairs considering the noise we continue to make about our teams not taking these intercontinental competitions seriously enough and the negative impact that has on our national team. For Bafana Bafana to conquer the continent and hold their own against the world's best, we first need to conquer Africa. To conquer Africa, we need our teams to dominate intercontinental tournaments. Mamelodi Sundowns are the latest victims of this lack of support, as they had to play a crucial league game against Jomo Cosmos four days before a must-win, and even more crucial, CAF Champions League encounter against AS Vita. Then there was Orlando Pirates lying in wait for what was billed the biggest game of the Nedbank Cup quarter-finals a mere three days later. I already hear people talking about squad rotation and the quality at Coach Pitso Mosimane's disposal, however, you need space in between games to effect rotation! You also need wins, which are difficult to achieve when you're under as much pressure as Sundowns were this past week. Those three games were all must-wins and in order to achieve that, you simply can't afford to experiment. It is only when you have games in the bag that you can start introducing new faces and resting key players, and that's something Mosimane and his technical team couldn't do against Vita in preparation for the Pirates game. Now Mosimane finds himself out of the Nedbank Cup mainly because (taking nothing away from Orlando Pirates who truly deserved the win), unlike other teams, they prioritised the continental showpiece. It remains to be seen how Sundowns will respond to the two disappointing results this past week and the impact they may have on the remainder of their season. For Mosimane, however, this is the price you unfortunately have to pay for attempting to proudly represent the country on the continent. Cheers VeeJay
