Mosimane's mouthful shows he has little tact

SILENCE is one of the hardest arguments to refute. So said American humorist Josh Billings.

This is something Pitso Mosimane should make his mantra before he opens his mouth in future. That's if he doesn't want to give us the impression his numb-as-a-chop midweek commentary was a result of intoxication from copious consumption.

What could have sparked Mosimane's diatribe about the media writing his obituary and whatever crazy crap he was going on about? One victory in seven matches, perhaps?

As we were still trying to make sense of his ill-informed tirade, news came of Bafana Bafana's slide down the Fifa rankings.

If you've got bile to spew, it is preferable to back it up with action because action speaks louder than words.

The Africa Cup of Nations kicked off in Equatorial Guinea yesterday. We are not there because it is not Mosimane's job to read the rules, he tells us. His job is to coach the team to qualify.

Failing to do so disqualifies him from being overly sensitive to criticism. He can do us all a favour by getting out of the kitchen if he can't stand the heat. Even Vincente Del Bosque (Spain), Marcelo Lippi (Italy), Luiz Fellipe Scolari (Brazil), Aime Jaicquet (France), Carlos Alberto Parreira (Brazil) and Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) get criticised. Those guys are World Cup winners, not Afcon failure whiners.

Mosimane's mistimed and misjudged mouthful exposes him as someone with little tact.

Unfortunately, tact cannot be taught. You either have it or you don't.

If I were Mosimane, I would shelve my paranoia and praise "my boys" as he calls them.

Ayanda Gcaba has solved a conundrum. If first-choice left back Tshepo Masilela is injured or suspended, there's no need to have right back Siboniso Gaxa playing out of position. Gcaba has raised his hand as the cover of choice.

Granwald Scott presented himself as a forceful, combative midfielder for the future. They are ready to offer stiff competition to the so-called incumbents in those positions.

If I were Mosimane, I would ponder whether it was not stupid to downgrade the Zambia and Ghana matches to training situations. But alas, I am not Mosimane. Thank God for that!

Mosimane's rantings only gave those who hate him and wish him out of the job further ammunition. As a self-confessed soldier, he wailed like a wimp no one would take to war.

Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are and doing things as they ought to be done, said Billings. Well, South Africa ought to have qualified for the Cup of Nations.

Instead, we are listening to our coach - who failed on that front - frothing at the mouth about nothing. Even Screamer Tshabalala didn't scream this much when he was Bafana coach.

Pitso has been criticised before. He will be criticised again. Because not everyone is going to love him because he is not money. Not everyone is going to hate him because he is not death. He should knuckle down and let his work prove he is one of the best in Africa.

In fact, some of us were rather kind to Mosimane and didn't call for his head after he failed to qualify, so all this obituary claptrap is funny.

And the last word belongs to Billings: "Common sense is instinct and enough of it is genius."