DURBAN – South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan has clarified why Stuart Baxter doesn’t have a permanent assistant coach after being in the hot seat for more than a year.
The Brit has worked with Thabo Senong, Molefi Ntseki, Quinton Fortune and now Shaun Bartlett.
At some stage Baxter tried to lure Rhulani Mokwena from Orlando Pirates, but that move didn’t materialise.
Jordaan made it clear that Baxter must decide who he wants to work with.
“It is his choice. Our coaches have always decided who their assistant is. From the beginning of time, we’ve given the coach that responsibility because you know your assistant coach, you must travel with, you must eat with him, you must have breakfast with him, you must walk with him.
“We can’t give you. You must find someone who is compatible and you can work with. So, he takes the decision,” Jordaan said in Durban.
Bartlett has expressed his desire to serve as a permanent assistant.
“If his choice is Shaun Bartlett, he must inform us. The ball is in his court,” he added.
Baxter and his troops have until next year March to decide their fate in the qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations. They need one point from their remaining encounter against Libya away from home.
“This qualification for Afcon should have been a walk in the park. We took four points from Nigeria and took only four points from Seychelles.
“That’s an indication that this team has quality and this team doesn’t have consistency, but that’s not a matter I can resolve.
“It is a technical matter, and the coach must select the players. Players must play, and they must evaluate and so on,” Jordaan explained.
Asked what would happen if Bafana failed to qualify for Afcon, Jordaan replied: “We will qualify. We have enough players. The coach must get them and play them. We have a series of friendly matches. He must get a settled team.
Bafana Bafana & Paraguay played to a 1-1 draw in the Nelson Mandela Challenge match at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Tuesday pic.twitter.com/Jh5tMUOQ7y
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) November 21, 2018
“We can deal with Libya. Libya shouldn’t be a problem. No one has beaten Bafana in these qualifiers, despite all the problems we’ve had. We were unhappy because they should have beaten Seychelles.
“They had opportunities and they didn’t (use them). They put us in this situation, and only they can take us out (of this situation).”
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