JOHANNESBURG – Although he made no excuses for Stuart Baxter's failure to guide Bafana Bafana to next year’s World Cup, Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela says fans should not be hysterical after this setback.
He argued, however, that with poor planning from the country’s football custodians – Safa – the end results would be the same regardless of who the Bafana coach was.
Speaking before his side’s training session ahead of Saturday’s Telkom Knockout semifinal against Bidvest Wits, the Amakhosi mentor said his national team counterpart Baxter wasn’t the only one to blame.
“You can’t point a finger at one person,” said Komphela. “My take on it is not going to be technical or tactical or whatever. This is just pure planning, and conviction to the plan. Are we patient enough as a nation?
“In anything, you sit down and you think. After thinking you draw a plan, after planning you prepare and then you start participating.
“And in between there’s going to be some setbacks and shortfalls, which you can review and consolidate and then move on until you reach your final destination.”
But South Africans are different, Komphela argued.
“We bring a five or 10-year plan, and in the first six months of the plan, you immediately think ‘no I must have achieved my objectives’ – that is very impatient,” he explained.
“I think it’s high time we stopped looking at Bafana Bafana, but address ourselves as a nation. How much patience do we have in everything? Even in economics, I want to get rich now and I don’t care how many souls I trample on. There are no values. We need to create a system that respects planning.”
Bafana’s World Cup dream was shattered last Friday in Polokwane when they suffered a 2-0 defeat at home against Senegal, who qualified for the tournament with that victory.
@superjourno