What we don't want in 2017

If Allister Coetzee is going to be sacked before the end of January, his replacement must be named quickly. A new coach must be given every chance to improve the shambles that is Bok rugby at the moment.

Cricket:

1. Indian arrogance.

Under Virat Kohli's captaincy India have become the most self-important team in the game. Wouldn't it be awful if they came to South Africa next summer and earned the right to swagger by winning the Test series?

2. Australia advancing fair.

Having smacked the Aussies 5-0 in a one-day series and beaten them 2-1 in a Test rubber last year, the last thing South Africa need is for the uber-competitive bastards to come here next season and even the score.

3. Hashim's horrors.

Few players have had so large and lasting an impact on any team as Hashim Amla has had on South Africa. He's been a great for several years now and he will never lose that status. But it's going to hurt if his current dry spell goes on for much longer.

4. Dale's dodgy bits.

The same goes for Dale Steyn, whose very presence on the field lifts South Africa and turns them into a far better team. But Steyn's serious injuries - three last season - are a worry.

5. AB anguish.

Who wouldn't want a fit and firing AB de Villiers in their XI? Fine. But where do you put him if the XI is winning? And South Africa are winning convincingly. They don't want their players to feel as if they have to look over their shoulder to see if De Villiers is lurking.

Rugby

1. Late appointment of the Springbok coach.

If Allister Coetzee is going to be sacked before the end of January, his replacement must be named quickly. A new coach must be given every chance to improve the shambles that is Bok rugby at the moment.

2. Allister Coetzee staying on as South African coach.

Eight defeats in 12 Tests was the worst return in a calendar year in Bok history. Coetzee's excuse of being appointed late can only go so far. His team deteriorated as the season wore on and Coetzee was unable to find answers. He flapped about, playing players out of position and allowed team culture to crumble. His primary task is to create an environment of excellence. He failed.

3. Blanket selection of overseas-based players for Boks.

Coetzee was allowed to pick as many overseas-based players as he wanted. But despite this results were poor. He often moaned that it was difficult to integrate those players due to late arrival times but no one forced him to repeatedly pick those overseas-based players. A clear-cut policy that entices players to remain in South Africa is needed.

4. Meaningless Currie Cup qualifying tournament.

The Vodacom Cup fell away last year and SA Rugby replaced it with a tedious Currie Cup qualifying tournament. The six Super rugby franchises were guaranteed a place in the Currie Cup premier division. It was farcical .

5. No more union crisis.

It was a difficult year financially for South African rugby in general but unprecedented with two unions - the EP Kings and Western Province - applying for liquidation. It forced SA Rugby to step in and fund the Southern Kings Super Rugby franchise. Western Province used their liquidation as a part of a tactic to unshackle themselves from a marketing company that was bleeding them dry. They managed to do that and then sold more than 50% of the union to an unnamed buyer. It might have been a tactical manoeuvre, but it shook confidence in South African rugby to breaking point.

Football:

1. Another Bafana Bafana coach losing the plot.

Something about that job just seems to turn coaches into a seething ball of rabid madness. Gordon Igesund, Pitso Mosimane and Shakes Mashaba. They all start well but there is often an eight-month period for this honeymoon. A few tough results, a hint of criticism and they transform into paranoid beings like werewolves from the moonlight. The SA Football Association is due to appoint their new coach in the next few weeks. Hopefully, the new incumbent will learn one big lesson from his predecessors - don't talk rubbish.

2. Charlatans coaching PSL teams.

It's been a bad start to 2017. Mark Harrison has already been appointed as technical director of last-placed Baroka FC. Head coach Kgoloko Thobejane might have to start getting nervous, as the term technical director is defined in the football lexicon as "coach in waiting". Not that we are casting aspersions on Harrison.

The Englishman, though, does have a decidedly iffy track record in the PSL. Clubs retreading flat-tyre coaches drag down the strides made by clubs who have made sensible, impressive appointments such as Stuart Baxter, Gavin Hunt and Pitso Mosimane.

3. Ernst Middendorp returning to South African football.

Really, with reference to the above point about the charlatan coaching treadmill, as much as the combustible German does have some coaching track record and pedigree, his track record of never being able to stay at a club for long must surely now have alerted future employers that Middendorp is not a safe bet. After alienating himself with the powers-that-be in local football by having to leave Maritzburg United in November because of the public statements he consistently made about acting PSL CEO Mato Madlala, Middendorp has secured himself a job at Bangkok United. He should enjoy the baht he's earning, the beaches, the bars, and the safe haven of Thailand.

4. Steve Komphela's Jesus references.

Please Steve, no. We love your parallels equating football tactics to bikinis, but the biblical reference you made after Kaizer Chiefs lost 2-1 against Mamelodi Sundowns had TV interviewer Rob Marawa confused and left the rest of us as in the dark.

5. Clubs playing C teams in continental competition.

Yes, Mamelodi Sundowns have comparably endless player and financial resources. Yes, it is expensive. Yes, there is domestic success to be considered first for some clubs. But if clubs from Uganda can send full-strength teams and journalists to coverthe Caf Champions League and Confederations Cup - and teams from Congo-Brazzaville can reach the group stages, and Zesco United from Zambia can reach the semifinals - then Bidvest Wits, Supersport United and Platinum Stars can do the same. Sundowns have led the way. The approach needs to change from other clubs as well if South African football is to progress.