The South African Football Association's executive committee meet on Saturday to review Bafana Bafana's poor performance at the African Nations Cup. The committee is expected to decide on the fate of Carlos Queiroz as coach, although no announcement will be made until later.
Speculation has been rife that he will be fired, with Jomo Sono taking the country to the World Cup. But while that appears to be what the public wants, experience has taught that firing a coach so close to the world soccer showpiece could backfire.
Saturday Star writer Matshelane Mamabolo gives view on what should happen to Queiroz.
- Coaches are judged by results and there can be no denying that Queiroz's are disappointing.
Forget about him qualifying us for the Nations Cup and the World Cup tournaments, that is a feat we will always achieve so long as the seeding system is used in the qualifiers.
For a man with his qualifications and experience to fail to emulate his less learned and experienced predecessors at the Nations Cup was a pure disgrace. He must take most of the blame for the Mali flop.
- Coaches are supposed to choose players on merit, not reputation. But he did the opposite, continuously selecting Quinton Fortune, who was clearly not up to the task, ahead of in-form and dedicated players such as Bennet Mnguni.
Also, it was clear from the squad he picked that he has very little regard for the local league as he selected inactive overseas-based players ahead of in-form PSL players.
- Since he took over, Bafana have regressed. They've played boring, unattractive football. Instead of trying to get his coaching methods to fit to the local style of play, he has attempted to get us to play the direct European style, which has not worked.
Not only that, our ranking on the continent and in Fifa have repeatedly dropped under him.
- He's too self-centred. While he had assistants, Carlos seemed too aloof to work together with these guys and did things on his own - perhaps seeking to grab the glory by himself. Trott Moloto and Steve Komphela were nothing more than ballboys and referees in Mali.
- Queiroz just does not seem to have the people skills necessary for the job. He may be knowledgeable, but the man has failed to inspire and motivate the national team players and there's nothing to suggest he will ever do so.