Can We Please Honour Clive?
Congratulations to Bafana Bafana on their Ivory Coast Afcon qualification after beating Liberia 2-1 four days after that disappointing 2-2 draw at Orlando Stadium. I must say, the second leg wasn't an easy game at all and we made life difficult for ourselves by failing to wrap the game up here at home when we had a chance to do so. It was good for the boys to show character away from home and manage to come back with maximum points. There are a couple of things that still need to be worked on in the team if we are to compete in next year's tournament. Having said that, the most important thing is to qualify. I think it is time now to focus on having a core of the players that will form our national team for continuity's sake so that we don't chop and change players every time there is a match. When you keep changing players, you don't get the fluidity within the players. The team we have now should form the core I am talking about because there is potential and a lot of options on the field. Consistency in team selection is very key and I understand that form matters when the national team coach calls players up, but if you don't have a nucleus or consistency in team selection, I don't think the blending and understanding among the players will be achieved.
Doc answers your questions…
Please don't forget to send your questions to editor@soccerladuma.co.za for now, until further notice.
Andrew Maphutha wants to know how coach Paul Dolezar changed my game to be more defensively sound, especially in the Rothmans Cup.
Well, I wouldn't really say he changed my game, but he managed the situation and the games as he saw them. The only thing I noticed was that when we played certain teams when he knew the focus would be on me, he would bench me, not because he had a problem with me or he thought I couldn't handle the opposition. He just wanted to have a surprise element over the opposition. He would demand different things from me in different games, based on the opponents and what the game demanded.
Tente Mokoka is asking about coach Hugo Broos' substitutions on Friday night against Liberia and likens them to what happened when we lost to Brazil 3-2.
At the end of the day, I don't want to be talking about that game and would rather reserve my comment. At the moment, the focus is on seeing this Bafana Bafana team become what we want them to be. Being negative is not going to bring any solution and the boys need us to rally behind them. Yes, it was a game that we will never forget, but the boys bounced back and ensured that we qualified.
Sipho Ndezi is asking about the impact the international break is likely to have on the teams.
All coaches knew very well, even before the start of the season, that there was going to be a FIFA break in March. These breaks don't come by surprise, everyone knows about them and it is up to individuals to show what they planned for the season. Periodization is key.
Being Doc
A very humbling way of getting to be an individual that cannot be easily destroyed, distracted, hurt or taken down by the storms. I had full support of everyone I have mentioned and those I have never said anything about in my life. Those are the people who made me who I am today. They developed a strong character in me without me realising it. Only as I grow older, I realise I'm strong because of certain individuals that impacted my life and career.
Coaches I've worked with: Clive deserves much better treatment…
This is a very emotional column because this is someone special. After hearing about his health condition, I made it a point to visit him last week, where I spent time with him and his family at his house. Look, I'm talking about coach Clive Barker and I was happy to see that his condition wasn't as bad as it is made out to be. Looking at him and talking with him, I wasn't just looking at and talking to my former coach but a father-figure. I was asking myself a lot of questions, one of which was, "Are we ever going to find this kind of a soul in South Africa again?" Only if you've worked with coach Clive will you understand what I am talking about. I've never seen that man angry, not even once, but he has his own way of disciplining players and getting them to toe the line. A very caring human being, who will always ask his players about their families. I travelled such an unbelievable journey with coach Clive and how he transformed the national team… and I'm sure, if I was a coach in his position, I would probably have resigned or had enemies from the players. I would have a problem calling up players, selecting the matchday squad or the starting line-up, looking at the number of options that were at his disposal. However, coach Clive had a way of managing that in his own way. That's why I'm talking about consistency in my opening because that's how you get your team to be solid. That's how you take care of the social factor, not only on the field but off it as well. As a coach, you help the situation because the players can see what type of a coach you are from your behaviour, how you treat them, how you see them and how much you believe in them. Clive had his core and he would only experiment in two or so positions. Within four years, his team was crowned Afcon champions and went on to qualify for two World Cups. I would have loved to see this coach having been utilised by the mother body to share his experience. Clive and those who followed after him are the only people who can tell their story, no one else! These are people that should be hero-worshipped because they made us who we are today. Clive deserves to be honoured, his legacy and achievements recorded for future generations. I believe someone like Clive deserve much better treatment from South Africa. Can we please honour Clive? I'd really like for this man to be given his respect while he is still alive because he's done a lot for this country's football. I would be the happiest person if we honour Clive. After everything he's done for us, we don't even have a statue of him, name a street or neighbourhood after him like we do with politicians? Look at Manchester United and what they've done for Sir Alex Ferguson and you will understand what I am talking about. What's happening to Clive is a shame and disheartening. We should be ashamed of ourselves! Do we want to honour him posthumously like we've done with others?
Doc's memory bank: A kind of a coach you'd die for…
Before we even started the 1996 Afcon, Clive told us we were going to win the tournament and qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup! I will never forget that day because everything he said came to fruition. I feel like he just said those words the other day when, in fact, it has been almost three decades since that day. Coach Clive believed in me and he still does to this day because he was more than just an ordinary coach. He cared about his players and wanted to see them progressing in life. During those conversations, it didn't dawn on me that he was creating a bond between us, and he succeeded. He cemented our relationship so much that we never looked back. Because of that relationship, whenever we found ourselves up against it, he would call me aside to say, "Doc, this is when I need you the most!" That's all he needed to say and I would go out there to get the job done for him because I knew how much he loved and believed in me. Any player coached by Clive will tell you that he's a kind of a coach you'd die for on the field. The understanding I had with him was way deeper than just a player and a coach. In fact, I'm happy to say I was coached by my friend. It is not every day that you hear a professional footballer saying they were coached by their friend. I'm not talking about favouritism here, not talking about him preferring me over others because of our relationship, I'm talking about him being a special kind of a coach to me and my teammates. Whenever I received a call-up, I would have a huge smile on my face because it was an opportunity to reconnect with our special coach. Because of that, to this day, I still call him "My Coach" because he was not just a coach, like I said. The man would ask you about social stuff, mental stuff, and his players were his kids. He treated all of us with love and respect and even showed us how to become good partners, husbands and fathers in ensuring that we raise happy families. He would also emphasise the importance of looking after our families and parents. He would advise us against getting carried away by the fame and fortune that comes with playing professional football. All those things I will always cherish and it is the first time that the coach I have worked with, the memory and friend zone are all about the same person. That speaks volumes about the relationship I have with the legendary coach Clive "The Dog" Barker! Clive has always been everything to me and that's how much he means. Believe it or not, I'm not talking about Clive because he's not well, but I want him to know that I really appreciate everything he's done for me. I've told him this so many times in person and I want him to read it on this platform as well.
Doc's Friend Zone
In trying to show you how versatile Clive was, I'm going to tell you about him as my friend. He was more than just a coach and wore different caps. In camp, I would sit with him for ours, having tea or sometimes having breakfast or sit in the pool or on the lounge. He would tell me about players he used to admire, some of the best players he's ever coached as well as the South African football history. The man would tell me about how great the late Ace Ntsoelengoe was, how great Scara Sono was, how great Jomo Sono was, Kaizer Motaung, Tebogo Moloi's father, Percy Moloi and many other legends, most of whom I never saw playing the game. He would tell me about some of my attributes that remind him of some of these legends and I would be blown away by the love he would show me.
