Africa Cup of Nations winning coach Clive Barker believes that Gavin Hunt should succeed Shakes Mashaba as Bafana Bafana coach.
Mashaba was fired by the South African Football Association (Safa) on Thursday after he was suspended in November, pending a disciplinary hearing. That hearing lasted five days in December before Mashaba was found guilty on the three charges levelled against him – violation of Safa communications policy, gross misconduct and insubordination.
Safa is now on a search to find a replacement who will continue where Mashaba left off in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Bafana Bafana are tied on four points with first-placed Burkina Faso after two rounds of qualifiers.
The qualifiers will resume in August with back-to-back matches against Cape Verde in Praia before hosting the Blue Sharks the following month. The next coach will have some time to work with the team, and there are international friendlies scheduled for March and June.
“The news (Mashaba’s sacking) came as a surprise to me, especially after the win over Senegal, where it looked like things were going well,” Barker said.
“But (Safa president) Danny Jordaan’s words (after the draw with Mauritania, where he said such a performance should be the end of a journey and not the start of it) proved to be a kiss of death.
“I think that Gavin Hunt should replace Mashaba. He has proved himself in the domestic league. I think that it’s him and Pitso Mosimane who stand out. I doubt that Mosimane would want to return this soon, and I don’t think that Eric Tinkler is ready for that job.”
The chances of Hunt replacing Mashaba are slim, though. The organisation said that they are looking for a candidate who is “familiar with African football competition”.
Hunt has failed to make an impact in the continent with Bidvest Wits. The Clever Boys haven’t taken continental football seriously under Hunt, playing their reserves in the last two years where they couldn’t get out of the preliminary round.
The three-time league-winning coach also didn’t do that well on the continent with SuperSport United, whom he guided to a hat trick of league titles. Hunt didn’t want to comment on the matter.
Roger de Sa, who has been tipped as a potential candidate, has some continental football pedigree after he guided Orlando Pirates to the final of the 2013 Caf Champions League. De Sa is currently on holiday, saying that he’ll map out his future early next year, with Maritzburg United after his services.
“It’s never nice to hear about the firing of a coach,” De Sa said. “But for the next coach to be successful, we have to find a better working relationship between the clubs and the national team. If we can sort that out, the results will take care of itself. As any South African, I would be interested in leading the national team.”
The next coach will have to hit the ground running because the qualifiers have already started. He’ll be under pressure to guide the team to Russia 2018, especially after the failure to qualify for next year’s Afcon in Gabon.
Football analyst and former Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Farouk Khan argues that Safa should take a leaf out of African champions Mamelodi Sundowns’ book.
“I understand Shakes’ frustration because there was much speculation about his future,” Khan said. “That frustrated him because he is human after all, and it led to him saying some of the things he said. I am not one to judge him for that.
"But we need to look deeper than just who is the next coach if we are to succeed. We need to learn from Sundowns, not just because of their Caf Champions League success.
"They hired a collective of highly competent coaches and a good support team to help them. If we go with a foreign coach, we must get a strong local assistant who isn’t going to put cones down, but will have a meaningful impact.”