Five things we want to see happening in South African football in 2017
A new year‚ and new challenges for SA football. Here are the five things TMG Sport wants to see happening in South African football in 2017.
1. A sensible appointment as Bafana coach
The “rumours” have been that the Uganda and former Orlando Pirates coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic already has the job sewn up. Surely someone has been enjoying too much of their Christmas and New Year’s spirits?
Sredojevic has done exceptionally well with Uganda‚ steering them to their first Africa Cup of Nations finals since 1978.
But do we really have such short memories in South Africa? This is the same coach who lasted six months at Orlando Pirates in 2006.
The track record of his countrymen‚ Vladimir “VV” Vermezovic and Kosta Papic‚ coaching in SA has been equally iffy.
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Sredojevic may have grown as a coach in the past 10 years – he’s had other successes in that period‚ particularly at St George SC in Ethiopia‚ winning three league titles – but‚ if so‚ let him come back to SA and prove it in the PSL first‚ then perhaps the national team.
There are far more qualified South Africans who have performed successfully for far longer in SA who deserve a chance ahead of Micho. Not to mention foreign coaches with far more convincing track records.
2. PSL security ramped up
A fan was shot dead – accidentally‚ by a policeman – during a pitch invasion at Kaizer Chiefs’ final league match of the season against Chippa United at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in May 2015.
The strides made in PSL security from the handful of overweight‚ sjambok-wielding guards who could not contend with occurrences such as gates being broken down in the 1990s to today are almost immeasurable.
But things can always improve. Certainly by European‚ or even Asian‚ standards‚ the PSL still lags.
And one senses from the increase in recent incidents – such as the league match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Chiefs at Loftus in November starting late amidst poor organisation – that standards have slipped. They need to move in the other direction.
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Quite apart from the overriding factor that lives should not be lost at football matches‚ fans need to feel safe‚ or they will not return. Such matters affect attendances too.
3. Organisation on the roads outside matches improved
And so does the situation on the roads outside the grounds. Last year‚ this reporter and another journalist sat for three hours stuck in a traffic jam coming out of a match at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridegville.
These are not isolated incidents. Anyone travelling to Orlando Stadium knows to leave early for big matches to avoid potential gridlocks at intersections around the stadium‚ with not a traffic cop in sight.
Other matches are a breeze to get in and out of‚ and the organisation super-slick. But the games that are not are turning the fans away. No one wants to sit for hours getting in or out of a stadium when the game is so well televised these days.
4. Danny Jordaan concentrating on being Safa president
There might be no correlation between South African FA President Danny Jordaan having agreed to serve as mayor of Port Elizabeth last year‚ and run in the local government elections as the ANC’s candidate‚ and Safa reporting a R40-million loss.
Then again there just might be. Running an over-bloated‚ complex body such as Safa‚ with its 52 regions and all their interests‚ plus the all national teams to consider‚ is a tough enough job without taking on another.
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5. WiFi and TV monitors for long-suffering journalists in press areas
Look at the list of sponsors and TV rights holders the PSL and Safa now have‚ providing their billions of rands in income – Absa‚ MTN‚ Telkom‚ SuperSport‚ Vodacom‚ Burger King‚ SAB‚ SAA and Sasol‚ to name the major players.
And yet journalists still cover matches in press areas that – apart from very few exceptions – do not have free WiFi.
As for TV monitors – that’s a notion that has us rolling on the floor belly-up laughing uncontrollably‚ with tears in our eyes.
And then the readers complain when we get the scorers wrong in our match reports.
Is it not about time‚ the PSL and Safa? It’s an international standard – why not in South Africa?
– TMG Sport