We come to praise Shakes, not to bury him: but questions need to be asked about that Bafana Bafana squad!

Unbeaten: Bafana Bafana boss Shakes Mashaba

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Let's get one thing straight from the outset. As I say again and again on twitter, SHAKES KNOWS BEST. Unbeaten in six Group A AFCON qualifiers and the Nelson Mandela Challenge, Ephaim Mashaba's record since taking over Bafana Bafana reads SEVEN games, THREE wins and FOUR draws, NO DEFEATS.


Again and again, Mashaba has confounded the critics. Right from that first training session at Mark's Park when Itumeleng Khune injured his heel, the "cheap but sensible option" has made a series of decisions which boggle the mind - but produce mind-boggling results.


Making the late Senzo Meyiwa his goalkeeper ahead of Darren Keet, and then naming him as captain, riled a lot of people in the Kaizer Chiefs camp. There was never any doubt the Belgian-based goalkeeper was the better choice but history will record - eternally since Meyiwa's still-unsolved murder - the Orlando Pirates No 1 kept a clean sheet in all four qualifying matches.


We talked too about his elevation of youngsters to the senior squad when they were not making the first team in the PSL. Yet Rivaldo Coetzee, hardly faultless in Ajax Cape Town's recent subsidence, was strong next to Tower Mathoho when he broke Aaron Mokoena's record as our youngest EVER international.


In midfield, Kamehelo Mokotjo, highly rated at FC Twente in the Dutch Ere Divisie, was flown out for those opening games against Sudan and Egypt... but never played. He went home frustrated with Mashaba (rather rudely) complaining he "looked heavy". He hasn't been seen in South Africa since.


Mashaba survived the "grabbing of the privates" incident against elderly Congo boss Claude Leroy and the banning of "fatigued" May Mahlangu but when Tokelo Rantie finally came good with two superb goals in Nigeria to put the AFCON champions OUT of the competition, Mashaba's star blazed beyond all others in our footballing firmament.


So when he announced the 34-man provisional squad for Equatorial Guinea, you could expect fireworks from the critics. But always, given the struggles of previous Bafana bosses Pitso Mosimane and Gordon Igesund, an underlying respect for Shakes prevails. His record as national team boss at all levels is hard to beat - he even got his beloved U20 AmaJitas past Cameroon to their continental championship while simultaneously taking over from Igesund at Bafana.


Incredible stuff. But that doesn't put him above critique. When he announced his 34-man squad, Shakes insisted there was still a chance for others to impress and make their way in to contention. But that isn't the point of a provisional squad. He must select 23 from those 34 in January, or the whole idea and the friendly against Zambia is pointless.

THE CHOSEN MEN: SAFA's official 34-man squad for AFCON 2015

My problems with the squad are no secret. I've been blocked by the Bafana Bafana twitter account and accused of treason by ardent South Africans, but the right to ask questions remains.

Here are my FIVE questions for Mr Mashaba:

1 How can you NOT select Itumeleng Khune, injured in early September on Bafana duty, but stick with Platinum Stars stopper Siyabonga Mpontshane, who hasn't played for his club since the Telkom KO final? Khune is fit again and on the bench for the last three Chiefs games, surely he should go in to camp on Boxing Day and prove he's back to his best in training? Match fitness cannot be applied to goalkeepers the way it is with outfield players.


2 Tefu Mashamaite, ironically the man who has taken over the captain's armband at unbeaten, record-breaking Kaizer Chiefs, is perhaps the most glaring omission. He plays next to Mathoho every week and is head and shoulders better than Coetzee and other rivals like Kwandakwentsizwe Mngonyama of Maritzburg United, who is currently playing in midfield. I won't even mention Siyanda Xulu at Rostov or Buhle Mkhwanazi at Wits.


3 Perhaps the best full-back in the PSL right now is another Kaizer Chiefs player, Tsepo Masilela. He has consistently out-performed his rivals but there is no room for him while Mzikayisa Mashaba and Nsikelelo Nyauza are not regulars at Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates. Players who can't make their club first team being picked for Bafana is the prevailing theme.


4 As I've said above, Mokotjo and the now-banned May Mahlangu fail to find forgiveness from Shakes despite plying their midfield trade at a far higher level than the PSL in Europe. Obviously the all-foreign-based midfield will line up Ayanda Patosi, Dean Furman, Andile Jali and Thulani Serero but around them we have Vuyisele Wana of flightless Moroka Swallows and Asivele Mbekile from Sundowns. Two players who hardly leap to mind when discussing South Africa's top midfielders. Two players who, again, are not club regulars. What about George Maluleka and George Lebese? Or am I being biased towards the AmaKhosi, who lead the PSL by a mile?


5 Up front, Tokelo Rantie is currently out of action after sustaining a "partial dislocation" of his shoulder a minute after coming on for Bournemouth following his heroics for Bafana in Nigeria. It's unlikely the promotion-chasing Cherries will release him for AFCON let alone for the pre-camp on Boxing Day. Why not have a look at Lehlohonolo Majoro and Kermit Erasmus, around whom Orlando Pirates are finally beginning to build a two-pronged assault weapon? Bernard Parker's first inclusion in a squad under Shakes is a welcome addition, given his recent "glut" of three goals, particularly the brace against Bidvest Wits.


These five criticisms are not an assault on Shakes Mashaba's intellect. Neither is the bald statement that agent Tim Sukazi has more influence than he should have - the suggestion on the social networks is that he has NINE players in the squad, including most of the controversial ones. Obviously, having warred with Igesund over agent influence, I'm not going to get involved in all that again.


HOW BAFANA WILL LINE UP IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA


The truth is, the potential starting eleven is nearly as strong as it was in qualifying, where South Africa left the Super Eagles grounded - though I still find Mashamaite's ommission such a poor decision it seems almost sinister. Keet in goal, plenty of form full-backs, possibly Patrick Phungwayo and Anele Ngconca;  Thulani Hlatshwayo and Mathoho at centre-back. They'll do.

We have that "Eurocentric" midfield of Furman (whose stuttering Doncaster Rovers career will be finished by AFCON, methinks) and Jali with Patosi and Serero (whose absence at Ajax Amsterdam was heavily lamented by Frank de Boer today). Parker and David Zulu or Bongani Ndulula will probably start up front with last season's PSL player of the year Sbu Vilakazi an impact substitute.


To be frank, in a "group of death" featuring Algeria, Ghana and Senegal, a Rantie miracle cure would be very welcome. I dislocated my shoulder 34 times in my playing career, it's an unlikely dream. He needs surgery and intensive rehab, just ask Bryan Robson.


Sadly, with the official AFCON travel agents asking R145,000 to tour with Bafana, I won't be going to Equatorial Guinea when the Ebola-threatened tournament kicks off on January 17. But then neither will five or six of our best players, Khune, Mashmaite, Erasmus, Majoro or Masilela.


Having had my gripe over selection, having pleaded for the right to question (but not insult) an unbeaten, miracle-working national coach, we end thus: BEST OF LUCK BAFANA BAFANA. I suspect we'll need it.

Are we witnessing the rise and fall of the Kaizer Chiefs empire? Or is it just a lack of Knowledge?

Dogged approach: Baxter and Barker

The rise and fall of the Roman Empire swept away entire civilizations and plunged the world in to centuries of despair now known as the Dark Ages. There was a real fear generations of Knowledge would simply be forgotten.

Fortunately, not many of us were around to witness that, though I'm reliably informed the Italian defenders were put to the sword, boss "Screamer" Nero fiddled and his squad burned.

The estimated 15 million AmaKhosi in South Africa may have felt they were witnessing the fall of Kaizer Chiefs last night with the same feeling of shock and awe; the emperor Stuart Baxter stood powerless in the emptying Calabash while his champions simply fell apart against the invaders from the north, led by a tiny terror known as The Dog.


Quite how Mpumalanga Black Aces managed to sack the Chiefs empire I'm not sure. Supersub Miguel Timm's late winner was simply a ridiculous coup de grace on a night of abysmal failure.


While Itumeleng Khune celebrated his 200th game in goal sitting on a deckchair, his strike-force were simply absent. Kingston Nkatha, not the most popular of gladiators from our northern neighbors, was replaced by the former killer Katlego Mphela. He was rubbish. Matthew Rusike flattered to deceive, George Lebese didn't even flatter.


The big men who normally do manage to score simply couldn't. With Eric Mouth of the Lion Mathoho again mysteriously missing from the centre-back pairing, it was left to Morgan Gould and Tefu Mashamaite to fail from the usually reliable set-pieces though Simphiwe Shabalala's delivery remained impeccable.


And with an alaraming lack of Knowledge Musona, top scorer Bernard Parker - obviously suffering from that long-standing ankle injury - missed the chance of the night before returning to his cloak of invisibility.


Unbeaten at home since Baxter's arrival in 2012, Chiefs have now lost successive Soccer City encounters with equal levels of bemusement. As Baxter groaned last night: "At worst we should have drawn both these games 0-0, instead we have managed to lose them both."


The delightfully unlucky 1-0 defeat against  Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday was followed by the late sucker punch from Clive Barker's men and Itumeleng Khune was left with little to celebrate in his 200th game for Chiefs.


Barker? All smiles: "Wonderful, Marvellous." The little man even claims his Aces - who purchased a world record 35 players this season - could have been title contenders had they had a few more weeks of preparation. Remember Aces could have - should have - had a penalty too in the first half as Willard "Assault and Vinegar" Katsande clattered the dangerous Ndoro.


Down the road in Tshwane, it was so different. Pitso Mosimane, the all-conquering rival with Patrice Motsepe's billions behind him, led Mamelodi Sundowns to the top of the table with a streaky 1-0 win over Bloemfontein Celtic.


Now three points clear of Kaizer Chiefs, who have a game in hand, Pitso is ready to sack Soweto. So too is Gavin Hunt after a sneaky late win over Platinum Stars from his Clever Boys. it's getting tight. Here's what Pitso said:

"Times are tough, you can see how strong Celtic are. In my opinion they played better than us. But at this point in time it is about getting results. It's not about playing pretty football.

"We must stay humble, there is a long way to go. We will see what we can do in the cup this weekend [against Orlando Pirates in the Nedbank Cup quarter-finals]."

Chiefs too go to Nedbank Cup action - on Saturday against SuperSport United - and then we return to the PSL where Sundowns must face THE DOG on Wednesday while Chiefs go to Polokwane City. Wits are home to flightless Moroka Swallows.

Unlike the fall of the Roman Empire. This one's not over. Yet.

BOLLOCKZ! my innovative football show on www.ballz.co.za airs every Thursday from 9am-11am. See Ballz' channel for our growing library of fascinating football interviews with the big names. 

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news and read my “Neal and Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

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Grim Gordon has run out of CHANces: South Africa 1-3 Nigeria leaves the nation in despair

Oh Gord! Igesund promised to attack but went with a loan striker

THERE will not be many bleaker nights for South African football. Defeat against Nigeria in Cape Town on Sunday night was not just disappointing. It was embarrassing.

Before the Group A finale, national head coach Gordon Igesund went to great lengths to tell us what a positive chap he is. Anybody with any knowledge of the man’s previous record would have pricked an ear at these brave words.

Boom! "“Playing for a draw is a dangerous thing for any team to do. You have to go out and play to win.”

Pow! “My philosophy has always been to play to win. But when you start thinking about trying to play for a draw then you are doing the wrong thing and you end up making incorrect decisions.”

Crash! “I cannot compromise my principles which are to win every match – if the other team scores three then you score four. It has worked for me in the past so there is no way I will play defensively to get a result. I believe we are good enough to win the game the way we want to.”

So what did Mr Win-or-bust do before a clash against the jolly green giants which required just a point to ensure qualification from Group A? He picks FIVE midfielders and goes with Bernard Parker up front on his own. Against a side South Africa have NEVER beaten, hadn’t scored against since 2004. Disastrous.

Right from the outset, Igesund had opted to go for the draw. His selection shouted that aloud. And to compound matters, with regular goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune out with an ankle injury, he made the fragile Bloemfontein Celtic centre-back Thabo Nthethe, 29, his captain and dropped impressive young AmaTuks defender Buhle Mkhwanazi, 23, for Kaizer Chiefs Tefu Mashamaite.

It should have been Mkhwanazi and MashaMIGHTY, as we soon found out. And why throw in Langerman for a game of this stature?

Like watching a horror show, everything Igesund had warned us about happened; Nigeria went 2-0 up, a defensive Bafana were forced to throw on the second striker Katlego Mashego in the first half, and all was lost.

Ejike Uzoenyi scored twice and hit the crossbar with a fizzer as he sought the first hat-trick of the CHAN 2014 tounament, Ifeanyi Ede scored the other. And at 3-0, with Mali back on level terms after a surprise early goal from pointless Mozambique in the other Group A clash, South Africa were gone. Another hosted tournament, another disaster.

Only then did Bafana begin to play, with Bernard Parker scoring his 22^nd international goal from the spot. His four-goal haul in three games looks impressive, but in truth three of those were penalties.

And there’s the rub. In truth, South Africa needed a dodgy penalty to get back in the game in their opening 3-1 win against Mozambique. And they had a stonewall penalty for Mali NOT given against them before ANOTHER controversial penalty gave them an undeserved point in game two.

Ultimately, footballing justice prevailed. The best two sides in the group – young, athletic squads from Nigeria and Mali – triumphed over South Africa’s jaded bunch of old professionals promised R80 000 a win plus a further bonus from Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula if they actually won the tournament.

We can debate long and hard about who is to blame for Sunday’s nightmare. Should Orlando Pirates – crushed 2-1 by SuperSport United on Saturday – have made their African Champions League finalists available?

Did the row over player availability (led by Kaizer Chiefs but quietly supported by Bidvest Wits and others) cause pre-tournament problems?

Should Gordon have opted for youngsters after Amajita’s rousing COSAFA Under20 triumph in Lesotho last month?

Will Itumeleng Khune’s ankle, not strong enough for Nigeria, be okay for Kaizer Chiefs top-of-the-table clash against Mamelodi Sundowns on Thursday?

Ah, forget all that. None of it mattered on Sunday. The problem was Igesund. He chopped and changed without reason, without explanation. Moon, Vilakazi, Mokeke, Mkhwanazi and Manqele were in and out, old favourites like Tshabalala, Nthethe and Chabangu were always favoured.

Chabangu and Tshabalala appear unable to play themselves out of contention. And Igesund didn’t even explain his questionable selection after the game, insisting: “We were out-muscled. Nigeria are stronger than us. I’m very disappointed. But it was not to be. It wasn’t our day.”

I think we’ve heard that before, Gordon. Have we really moved forward since that opening game in Brazil? Have we got rid of the habitual losers who have inhabited the green shirt – soon to be sponsored by Nike – for so long?

No. The new broom has not swept. Development is forgotten. Our junior squads are still chaotic. You don't have agreements with PSL coaches, you bark at them. Players are picked for commercial reasons. Our squad continues to head towards an average age of 30 with alarming speed. It’s not good enough. Even with all those excuses. Simply not good enough. In Gord, I'm afraid, I no longer trust.

BOLLOCKZ! my innovative football show on www.ballz.co.za airs every Thursday from 9am-11am. See Ballz' channel for our growing library of fascinating football interviews with the big names. 

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal & Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

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Time up for Gordon's South Africa: after Nigeria embarrassment, is it time for Baby Bafana?

False dawn? Bafana celebrate against CAR

THERE are no words to adequately describe Bafana Bafana’s disappointing 2-0 defeat against Nigeria at the Moses Mabhida on Wednesday night.

So often, under the management of no-nonsense Gordon "Four PSL Titles" Igesund, we have been tempted to scent a new dawn for South African football. There was the AFCON win against Angola, the World Cup triumph over the Central African Republic in Cameroon, even the two hard-fought 1-0 defeats in Brazil and Poland.

But nothing can quite prepare a nation for a thumping at the hands of an old footballing foe, many of whom live gleefully in our midst.

With John Obi Mikel out with a pre-season “tummy bug” and his Chelsea team-mate Victor Moses left languishing on the bench despite his enthusiasm for the Madiba challenge, South Africans were hoping for a rousing triumph – or even a drab draw – against a side with five wins and just one defeat against Bafana.

Instead we were treated to a performance which left many mourning the bad old days of Pitso Mosimane and the bungling Brazilians who preceded him.

Up front, Malmo’s former Pirate Tokelo Rantie, allegedly the subject of a R18m bid from lowly Bournemouth earlier in the day, barely had a touch. Next to him Benard Parker looked more likely to score at the other end, as he did with such stunning accuracy in the numbing World Cup qualifying defeat in Ethiopia.

At the back, the old Bloemfontein Celtic centre-back duo of Tower Mathoho and Thabo Nthethe showed alarming inexperience and a worrying ability to freeze as Uche Nworfor, on as a second half substitute, helped himself to a brace.

The first was a deft back heel, a moment of quick-thinking with his first touch after coming on for Shola Ameobi. The second was a mere tap in, with the glamour sub Moses involved in an intricate build-up which left Mathoho and Nthethe all at sea next to the Indian Ocean.

In the middle of the park, Dean Furman was exposed for the journeyman he really is at Doncaster Rovers with Reneilwe Letsholonyane just as hard-working but equally incapable of finding the killer ball world-class midfielders MUST be able to deliver.

As irate South Africans desperately searched for answers, there was In-Gord-We-Trust insisting: “We did well in the first half. But Nigeria were the better side, they had more purpose in the second half. We made poor decisions around the box, too rushed.

“We have to calm down, keep the ball. I threw in a couple of youngsters. I’m not too disappointed, there are things we can work on.”

But we have heard all that before. It feels like Bafana are no nearer a real solution than we were post-Pitso after that dream-crushing opening draw against Ethiopia.

Former Bafana and Pirates hero Mark Fish said: “It looked like we were afraid to tackle Victor Moses. Nigeria were a far better side going forward.”

There is no easy solution. Development in this country is barely touched on while SAFA and the PSL seek to bolster their coffers with short term solutions and gimmicks. The Bafana junior set-up remains an embarrassment, as do many of the so-called academies at our major clubs.

When Bafana return to the Moses Mabhida, a super-stadium which deserves better, on September 7 to play Botswana, Igesund will be relying on the Central African Republic to take at least two points off Ethiopia to stand any chance of qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil next year.

And do we really stand any chance in the play-offs against sides like these African champions Nigeria? Of course not, given what we’ve seen.

The answer lies in youth. The only answer. Igesund must have the guts to tell the big boys at SAFA he has seen enough of Rantie, Parker, YeYe and Shabba, who shoot like rusty blunderbusses and sell their image rights with lethal intent.

He must ignore calls for a return to the days of Teko Modise, Andile Jali and Killer Mphela. That’s as wise as calling up Benni bloody McCarthy and patching up Siya Sangweni or recalling Stevie Pienaar.

Gordon must go for 2018 now. Unearth the youngsters who are steadfastly ignored as the agents and chairmen insist on the selection of their falling stars in an attempt to keep their value high. We have now reached the stage where these “legends” are named in the Bafana squad for PR purposes even when SAFA knows they won’t play as we saw before the COSAFA Cup and the current double-whammy.

Siyanda Xulu is a case in point. At 21, he kept the mighty Samuel Eto’o quiet for Rostov against Anzhi in the Russian league a fortnight ago, a shackling of the best-paid player in the world - a feat which may ultimately lead to the breakdown of Makhachkala’s billionaire policy.

Yet Xulu and the equally promising Buhle Mkhwanazi at AmaTuks played no part against Nigeria’s Super Eagles and did anyone else get that sinking feeling when Lerato Chabangu emerged as a sub? I did.

Victory over Burkina Faso on Nelson Mandela Sports day on Saturday may gloss over this woeful night for South African football. But thank God it’s the Springboks who are taking on Argentina at Soccer City on the same bill.

WARNING: This was written in the throes of post-match depression!

BOLLOCKZ! my show on www.ballz.co.za, airs every Thursday from 10am-noon. You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal & Pray” column every Tuesday inwww.thenewage.co.za. A shorter version of THIS story will be published in The New Age on Tuesday.

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