Not enough chilly to cure Baxter’s hangover

It’s hard to believe that Safa didn’t see Baxter’s pacey resignation catching up with their tortoise-like decision making strategy.

Baxter was going to jump even if no one had pushed him off the ledge. His arrogance towards the end of his tenure was a sign that he was offered coaching jobs somewhere else and that he would jump the Bafana ship.

Here was a man asking to be sacked by riling up Safa to crack the whip. You don’t insult the host’s cooking because you smell oxtail soup from the neighbour’s house hoping to be invited over for dinner when you walk out of the house you are in. The neighbour might not need your company.

After South Africa’s disappointing 2019 Africa Cup of Nations exit at the hands of Nigeria it was clear that Baxter will not stay in the Bafana Bafana hotseat until Christmas. A man beaten by a side he once humiliated in the qualification round had returned to the battle field with a Bafana Bafana side that spent too much time gloating about a successful qualification and forgot to prepare for that grudge match.

Safa’s decisions after Baxter’s resignation are no different from those of a man who got paid on Friday afternoon and woke up the following morning regretting the irresponsible decisions of drinking his pay cheque away the night before. And no matter how much chilly the Friday night party starter had  it doesn’t make the hangover go away. In Safa’s case meetings and getting an interim coach doesn’t make up for not finding Baxter’s replacement.

If Safa was a government people would vote for who they like, however since a few big shots that lack ambition and creativity are making all the calls, Safa might not look beyond our borders for Baxter’s successor.

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