Coaches’ heads on the block, but are they to blame?

UPON his arrival in the country to begin his five- month long tenure as Mamelodi Sundowns’ mentor, Henri Michel, said: “I came here to work, not talk. I hope my job will do the talking.” Evidently, the job done by the recently sacked Frenchman failed to do much talking as his two-year and seven- month contract came to an abrupt end on Monday, after a topsy-turvy run in both the Absa Premiership and the Nedbank Cup.
There is arguably no job in South Africa that is as demanding and comes with as much pressure than that of a football coach. No one would agree more with this statement than the now former Sundowns mentor and many others like former Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp, Bay United’s ex-head Vladislav Heric and former Bafana Bafana trainers Phillippe Troussier and Stuart Baxter. All walked the same path as Michel.
These are the men who bare the brunt and wrath of football-loving fanatics and directors of our soccer teams. The question that many pose after such incidents is whether these coaches are not merely used as scapegoats by those who deserve as much, if not more blame, for the performance of their teams. It is not the coaches who appoint themselves, it is not the coaches who miss the goals and the tackles, and it is definitely not the coaches who don’t follow their own instructions on the playing field.
South African soccer tends to lack patience in the stands and in the boardrooms, both the fans and club directors being extremely quick to change their tune about individuals – be it coach or player – giving praise one day only to call for their heads the next.
These very same coaches are by no means the innocent victims. They need to speak out and point out the downfalls from within their various clubs.
This is something which the Serbian-born Heric failed to do and it justified his sacking from Umlilo.
A man who can be admired in this regard is current Bay United coach Khabo Zondo, who at the beginning of the bad run of form by the club came out and said: “I have done everything that I can and the club has done many things internally to ensure that the players have everything they need to get themselves out of the position they find themselves in. It is now up to the players to follow my instructions and play like a team that wants to stay in the PSL. Their future is now in their own hands.”
Zondo’s statement was supported by the club’s management and also gained him the respect of the faithful Umlilo supporters.
After the club’s defeat against Maritzburg United, one of the club’s members of the Bay United Supporters Club, shared these sentiments and said: “The coach is not to blame. The players must answer, we can’t afford to be starved of Premiership football again. Zondo has done everything expected of him.”
It is disappointing to see how club bosses are quick to succumb to pressure from spectators, without giving ample consideration as to the next step the club will take, as in the case of Michel.
We will now have to wait and see whether the interim Downs coach and member of the club’s board, Ted Dumitru, who was a key figure in bringing Michel to our shores, will be able to change things at the club. This, despite the fact that the Tshwane giants are now out of contention for the Premiership title.
One would hope that with the 2010 World Cup just around the corner, Bafana Bafana’s Joel Natalino Santana will not be in a similar predicament, which could cause much disarray in the national team’s preparations for the tournament.
It is inevitable that we will see many more sackings in the forthcoming weeks, with Chiefs’ Muhsin Ertugral the most likely candidate to face the axe – that’s soccer!