Stuart Baxter would like to finalise talks with the South African Football Association (Safa) over the vacant Bafana Bafana job before SuperSport United depart to Liberia on Friday.
Matsatsantsa a Pitori take on Barrack Young Controllers in Monrovia on Sunday in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup play-offs with a place in the group stage up for grabs.
“I want to tell my football club what’s happening (as soon as possible)‚” Baxter said.
“I would like to see it finalised within a few days. If we can do it before Liberia (it would be great). I would love to get it done before that so that everyone knows what’s going on.”
- SA clubs bid for places in expanded African Confederation Cup group stageSouth Africa will have three teams in the African Confederation Cup play-off round this coming weekend as BidVest Wits‚ SuperSport United and Platinum Stars all seek a berth in the expanded group stage.
The search for Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba’s replacement has dragged for months since his sacking in December last year.
Safa have failed to tie down any of the candidates who were shortlisted for the job from Carlos Queiroz to Herve Renard and Hugo Broos.
This has put the organisation in a desperate situation as Bafana start their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign against arch rivals Nigeria in June.
If Safa reach an agreement with Baxter‚ Matsatsantsa said the 63-year-old would only join Bafana after the end of the PSL season on July 1.
Baxter admitted that the uncertainty on his future at SuperSport have hurt the club.
- Is Baxter’s link to the Bafana coaching job starting to affect his club United?Speculation that Briton Stuart Baxter is close to becoming the new Bafana Bafana coach is starting to affect his players at current employers SuperSport United.
Matsatsantsa were stunned by relegation-threatened Baroka FC on Saturday with a 1-0 loss‚ denying the Tshwane side the chance to break the record for the longest unbeaten run in the Absa Premiership which stood at 19 matches.
They bounced back to beat KwaDukuza United 2-0 on Tuesday in Clermont to book a place in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals and keep their ambitions of retaining the trophy alive.
That uncertainty is the main reason why Baxter would like the matter to be finalised as soon as possible so that everyone concerned can plan for the future.
In the past Baxter has been vehement that he doesn’t want to return to the job he held from 2004-2005.
- Gavin Hunt announces Stuart Baxter as the new Bafana Bafana coachThe South African Football Association (Safa) might be struggling to pin down a new Bafana Bafana but BidVest Wits coach Gavin Hunt has no such problems.
But his recent talks with Safa have seen him change his mind.
“The thing that interested me is that we are talking about a different job to the one that I had when I came here in my first tenure‚” Baxter said.
“The job that we are now talking about is to develop and rebuild. There is some patience that’s being showed.
"That makes it an interesting prospect. Does it make it interesting enough to jump at it? We will see.”
- TMG Digital/TMG Sport
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