Mosimane has said Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates fans would not want him to coach Bafana Bafana.
In response to Thomas Mlambo’s question in February 2017 before Stuart Baxter’s appointment was confirmed, the coach said “Chiefs and Pirates fans don’t like me. They’re against me and this is a national team. I’m happy at Sundowns because they love me there.”
He said they would complain about him only fielding Sundowns players in the national team. Mosimane recently said the same thing speaking to a group of journalists in Gauteng.
The big question is, are these comments fair?
Before he went to Bafana Bafana, he had never coached Sundowns and all fans in the country, including Masandawana called for his head after the national team celebrated thinking they had qualified for AFCON only to find at a later stage that they had misinterpreted the law and they actually hand’t qualified as the head to head record was considered before goal difference statistics.
He was eventually sacked after the 1-1 draw against Ethiopia in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. That result took South Africa’s winless run to seven consecutive games.
How can you blame Chiefs and Pirates fans for that?
The very same Sundowns fans he is praising now wanted him to be shown the exit door in his first two seasons when results were not going his way. They are happy now because he has delivered.
“Jingles” must come to terms with the fact that he has learned a lot now and he is more experienced and ready to coach the national team. Most fans would welcome him with open arms but during his first spell he was not up to standard and the fans were rightfully dissatisfied.
The rivalries he is talking about are only club-orientated and he must not talk like a national team coach who has ever experienced abuse from a former club rival.
Written by @EggsBenedictZA
