Boebie Solomons has been in the game of football for longer than most can remember, most notably coaching the likes of Santos, the now-defunct Bidvest Wits and Polokwane City, among others, but over the last few years he has been flying under the radar. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say, but it does not mean the 68-year-old is resting on his laurels or spending his days watching the sun set. He has long taken a step back from the hustle and bustle of coaching in the Premier Soccer League and has instead turned his focus towards developing the youth and coaches of tomorrow, which he feels is more important at this stage of his life than working as a head coach in the topflight. Currently based in Cape Town, Solomons is doing some work with SAFA and was recently part of Stellenbosch FC. In this interview with Soccer Laduma's Tshepang Mailwane, the former Winners Park mentor talks about exactly what he has been up to and gives his thoughts on Mamelodi Sundowns' dominance.
Tshepang Mailwane: Hello, Boebie. It's been a while since we have heard from you. For those who might not know where you are currently, please share what you have been up to…
Boebie Solomons: I am doing well. I have been heavily involved in coaching education, teaching and mentoring coaches. I've also just finished a contract with Stellenbosch Football Club, where I was the Technical Consultant. While I was there, I put in a youth structure. I was Head of Youth at Stellenbosch, and you could see that within three years we caught up with the academies all over South Africa. I am also linked to Maties Football Club, the university. There's a joint venture between Stellenbosch and the university. We look for students who can play football and also have good academic possibilities. So, that is where I have been spending a lot of time. But I am also the Technical Director of SAFA Cape Town. I am very involved in the selection of provincial teams, the coaches and running coaching courses in Cape Town.
TM: Why did you not continue with Stellenbosch?
BS: My contract finished. The boat is moving, and they are continuing now because the foundation is in place. I also can't be attached too long at one organization because I am needed in more areas than at one place. That's why I am also on the SASCOC coaching commission and on the SAFA technical committee. I have a lot of functions that I need to perform, so a club actually ties my hands a bit. I am happy that has happened.
TM: Does that mean that the possibility of coaching at club level in the PSL is completely out as an option for you?
BS: I think I can play a bigger role. Us coaches who have been through the professional stages have to play a bigger role. We need to guide the younger coaches and be mentors. Also, we need to play a role for the nation. We only think about our own environment only, but we need to look at the bigger picture. What I am happy about is that during the pandemic, we developed the first online coaching course. We've done five accredited D Licence online coaching courses. That's why you've hardly heard about me. I am going to spend a lot of time with that, especially with people from the rural areas because they have to travel and take time off from work. That's difficult for them, so we can do it online. They have to spend a little bit more on data maybe, but they save a lot of money on travel, food, accommodation and all those things. If you look at our country, it's difficult for people to go to other areas, so we are finding ways to go to them and provide valuable information to them.
TM: You were recently doing the CAF A Licence in Johannesburg. Tell us what the experience was like and what you are going to get from doing the course.
BS: We were waiting for this for a long time. The only problem is that we are accredited at SAFA as coaching instructors. Now that we are aligned to CAF, we can be graded and be CAF instructors. That will give us an opportunity to give back to higher-level coaches and learn more about developing the youth at a grassroots level because that is the key.
TM: How important is it for coaches, especially in the topflight, to have these coaching qualifications?
BS: The coaching courses will always give you the tools on how to handle situations like conflict and dealing with signing players and analyzing opponents. All those things are important. So, it's about knowing how you can take your club to a higher level and to take your club to CAF tournaments. This (the CAF A Licence) will help us in knowing how to catch up with the rest of the world and what we need to put in place and focus on because what we have been doing has not been working and we must be honest. But now this gives us more tools and it gives us as coaches the tools to speak to management about the things we need.
TM: Looking at the PSL at the moment, what do you make of the younger coaches such as Rhulani Mokwena, Mabhudi Khenyeza and Vusumuzi Vilakazi coming through?
BS: There are some coaches who have the art of putting through the message. I will look at coaches who are handling lower teams than I would look at the coaches handling (Mamelodi) Sundowns, for instance, because there you've got the best players. If you win something, you are not achieving anything, you are just repeating what others have already done. But if you look at Mabhudi Khenyeza or lower-level coaches who are getting their clubs out from the bottom, that, for me, shows that they can work with players who may not be the best but you can produce something out of it. That, for me, is a coach. If you can take something out of nothing and groom that group and achieve something like get into the Top Eight and reach the semi-final or final of a knockout competition, that shows the quality of your work.
TM: Being someone who comes from Cape Town, what do you think of the progress of clubs from the Mother City in the DStv Premiership?
BS: I think the financial support can be improved a bit and the quality of the players can improve. The Cape Town teams put a lot of trust in the youth, which is good, but youth is inconsistent, so you need quality players around the youth. I think they can upgrade the salary structures because money makes a difference. In today's world, the youth does not have the same mentality that we had before. We would play for nothing, but we would die on the field. So, the youth of today are different, and you have to keep up with that. You can't be stubborn to say, "Play for the badge." The players talk to each other, and they will know if someone is getting R50 000 while they are getting R10 000. It makes a difference. These are the things that can help.
TM: Are the Cape Town clubs not affected by constantly selling their best players to Gauteng sides?
BS: When you sell a player to a big club, what does it mean? It means you have sold one of your better players and so it's important to bring in the same type of quality to work with the ones who are already there. That's something I think we are not getting right. We are selling players to the other clubs, which are good, and we are not getting players who are as good. We are bringing in the young ones to replace those who have been sold, so I think that's the balance we can improve on.
TM: What do you make of the quality of the league overall, especially with Sundowns dominating so much?
BS: We need to change that. As much as people say they have the most money and the best players… when we were at Santos, we beat them. They had the players, but we beat them. We won two major trophies. So, maybe the coaches are not coming up with the right game plans. If you want to fight at a higher level, you've got to do what is going to help you, not try to play like Barcelona but you are trying to beat Sundowns. You must devise a plan to beat Sundowns and that's what we did when we were at Santos. The strategies that we came up with were to beat those teams, not to show that they can play better than you. It was not about the way we played against them but how we overcame and used our strengths to our advantage. The coaches need to transfer that to the players.
TM: Some valuable advice, coach. Spoken like the veteran that you are. Thank you so much for your time, Boebie.
BS: Thank you for the opportunity, Tshepang.
