Durban - When Danny Jordaan was in Switzerland last week for the inaugural Fifa Best Awards, Safa issued a statement to make clear that their president’s meetings with Diego Maradona, Frank Rijkaard, Lucas Radebe and others in Zurich had nothing to do with the vacant Bafana Bafana coaching job.
In the absence of a similar disclaimer from Safa during Jordaan’s visit to Gabon, where he was on CAF duty as a member of the Afcon Organising Committee, the trip could well double as an early scouting mission to assess coaches who could potentially lead Bafana Bafana.
Even if Jordaan doesn’t get to meet coaches face to face, he could very well pick up character references about some of them through his counterparts. After all, Safa said in their release last week that upon Jordaan’s return from Gabon this week he will “address the coaching matter with the CEO and the Safa Technical Committee”.
The technical committee meets this week to “develop proposed principles of engagement for a new head coach, including defining an updated mandate and other requirements for presentation to the Safa national executive committee.
Here are some of the coaches Jordaan could have earmarked to replace Shakes Mashaba.
Herve Renard:
The Frenchman once ran a garbage collection company in his native country before he started cleaning up on the international football scene as a national coach. The 48-year-old struggled to cut it as a club coach before and after his success with Zambia at the 2012 Afcon.
He followed that up with another African title while at the helm of the Ivory Coast, and could make it a historic three titles if he does the business with Morocco. Renard is known as a no-nonsense disciplinarian who puts the team ahead of individuals - he dropped Chipolopolo winger Clifford Mulenga for disciplinary reasons ahead of the 2012 Afcon finals.
Renard’s familiarity with southern African football from his time in Zambia makes him a top contender. One thing is certain - he should infuse a sense of fashion into the national set-up, judging by his flair for white shirts, jeans, and long flowing blonde locks.
Claude le Roy:
The “balie” of the Afcon turns 69 by the end of the tournament. He leads his sixth country, Togo, to his ninth tournament. Le Roy was Renard’s mentor when the latter worked as a physical trainer under his countryman for Ghana. The old man definitely has lots of knowledge about the ways of the continent, but other younger upstarts should stand a better chance.
Milutin Sredojevic:
The Uganda national coach is no stranger to South Africans, having had a mediocre spell with Orlando Pirates in the mid-2000s. However, he is still only 47 years old, and has been in the coaching business for quite some time, most of it in Africa.
Micho, as he is known, also cracked it at club level in Uganda. He won two league titles, one knock-out cup and one East and Central African club championship in two and a half years.
Besides establishing Uganda as a force, he has worked in Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Ethiopia with a fair degree of success. If offered a chance to take charge of Bafana Bafana it would allow him a chance to make up for his time at Pirates. Micho would be the ideal fit, given that he is relatively young, experienced and ambitious.