The best footballing farewell? It's an open and Schutt case

AMONG the many footballing farewells we will suffer, patiently, as the season comes to a close were the emotional departures of Steven Gerrard and Alje Schutt on Saturday.

The Premier League made the most of Stevie G's last game at Anfield; understandably so. A player who spends 17 years at one club and NEVER changes his hairstyle in the modern age is a rare commodity.

Sadly, after the guard of honor with his three daughters, Gerrard was unable to conjure a final chapter of magic in a career highlighted by that three-goal comeback to win the Champions League in Istanbul.

Instead we witnessed once-mighty Liverpool getting hammered 3-1 by Alan Pardew's revived Crystal Palace; by the end, Gerrard was goal-hanging, exhausted by the hype, hoping for a large slice of good fortune to deny Palace a just result.

Afterwards, the Liverpool players - including a laughing Mario Balotelli - emerged in shirts with Gerrard emblazoned on the back and we listened to The man himself offer a few creaking platitudes about  how tremendously proud he was to have played for such a great club and in front of such wonderful fans.

Few will mention the time, in 2003, when Gerrard agreed to join Chelsea but reneged on the deal after threats to his family from those same fans. And nobody dare mentions what Frank Lampard did to Chelsea after his "move to America" actually saw him go on a full season loan to deposed champions Manchester City.

So good luck in Los Angeles, Stevie... And don't mention the infamous slip which let Demba Ba in to ruin Liverpool's rare title challenge this time last year.

A far more satisfying footballing farewell had already taken place in Port Elizabeth by the time Liverpool submerged themselves in crocodile tears.

The Dutchman Alje Schutt, in his last game for Mamelodi Sundowns, gave his all in the Nedbank Cup final, physically and verbally. he rallied his troops against Roger de Sa's stubborn young side and earned a yellow card for his attempts to keep the referee on his toes.

As extra-time wore on, Schutt fell heavily after an aerial challenge. His 34-year-old ankle had clearly given up. But not Schutt. He manfully limped on until, five minutes before the penalty shoot-out, Pitso Mosimane took him off, saying later: "This final was a tribute to our captain, we wanted him to go home with another trophy."

And he did, thanks to an extraordinary shoot-out which saw Ajax Cape Town's youngsters succumb to the pressure with THREE big misses, to pluck defeat from the jaws of victory.

It's what happened after 120 goalless minutes and a dreadful set of penalties which roused the nation.

Schutt, who burst in to tears when the Nedbank Cup had been added to his 2014 championship medal (that's one more than Gerrard ever managed in 17 years), was thrust forward for his post-match interview late, after much celebration and back-patting from the KaboYellow troops.

What he said should be framed and put on a wall at Chloorkop, and added to every school syllabus. I hope I've got it word perfect:

"This was a great win for Sundowns, I could hardly walk at the end. I'm just so glad we won it.

"South Africa has been so good to me. This is a wonderful country, I have enjoyed my time here, every minute.

"I want to say that xenophobia is not the South Africa I know. Everybody I met was so warm and friendly. They made me feel at home. It cannot be right.

"This is an amazing country. It is not over. I WILL BE BACK."

Hours after Schutt's heartfelt message, friends - South African and otherwise - started sending me messages from Sunnyside, the Sundowns heartland in central Tshwane, saying the police were out in force hunting down foreigners at the dead of night.

I prefer to remember Schutt's words. Xenophobia is not the South Africa I know.

Sent from my iPad

Did Mbazo save Baxter from the axe: exclusive interview with Bafana Bafana's most capped player, Aaron Mokoena

Bafana's most capped: me and Aaron "The Axe" Mokoena

WHEN Stuart Baxter leads Kaizer Chiefs out at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday afternoon to reclaim further glory for South Africa’s biggest football club, Aaron Mokoena will be smiling broadly.

It was the record-breaking international defender who might just have saved the British boss’s bacon early in the season when times were hard.

Mokoena, the former Ajax, Blackburn and Portsmouth centre-back now at Bidvest Wits, told me this morning: “I love Stewy. When he was Bafana Bafana coach a decade ago he made me his captain. I knew then he was a top manager. He had all kinds of plans but they wouldn’t back him.

“So when things were getting difficult for Stuart early in the season, I made a call to Jessica Motaung (daughter of club owner Kaizer and the AmaKhosi’s marketing director). I told her ‘Give Baxter some time, he will come good.’ Now here he is, on the verge of winning the double.”

So did Mbazo save Baxter from the axe? The opening 4-1 defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns, coming on top of questions over the man from Wolverhampton’s CV, may well have led to serious trouble. But after Mokoena’s call, Chiefs went from strength to strength, crushing AmaZulu in their opening PSL clash and going on to win their first championship in eight years.

On Saturday Gavin Hunt’s SuperSport will attempt to derail Baxter’s bid for the double but Mokoena grins: “I’ve got to go with Chiefs. I know they’ve been on a poor run on the finishing stretch (two defeats and four draws in their last six saw Platinum Stars and Orlando Pirates snapping at their heels until the final week) but  they’ll be up for it.”

Mokoena himself, aged 32 and with a record 107 South Africa caps to his name, has seen it all. A 15-year career which started at Jomo Cosmos and swept across Holland, Germany, Belgium and England may not end in back South Africa.

Mbazo, who played 23 times for fourth-placed Wits this season reveals: “I’m actually flying to the USA next week, there have been inquiries – but I may stay at Wits for one more year.”

With Hunt reported to be heading to Wits, Mokoena reveals: “There are big things happening at the club. Antonio Habas was a great coach at the start of the season – very tough, but I like that – Clive Barker was a good caretaker. But next season we might be up there, serious contenders.

“Whatever happens, I’ve loved it. Amsterdam, Blackburn, Portsmouth… I used to commute from Wilmslow in Manchester to the south coast of England every day!

“And my favourite story is that one you wrote before the World Cup, about my mum dressing me up as a girl to protect me during the Boipatong troubles when I was a kid.

“But now? The traffic in Johannesburg! I was twenty minutes late for my chat on eTV Sunrise this morning, even in a Hummer!”

Sold a dummy: me and Chester Missing at eTV Sunrise this morning!

The championship chat: Stuart Baxter on Mashemaite, Khune, SAFA, referees... and that dodgy start

Title winner: Stuart Baxter

THE opening sentences of my post-championship chat with Stuart Baxter were, as I promised, the most difficult. An apology. Here’s how it went.

ME: “Stuart, how’s it going? Must have been hectic after Polokwane! Well done mate, never in doubt!”

BAXTER: “Yup, it’s been busy. Hey, I had this guy here, think you know him, keeps asking another question. And another! We’re on the road to Mbombela. It’s been great… all the fans…”

ME: “Look, before we say anything, I’ve got to apologise Stuart. We’ve spoken a couple of times during the season but there’s something I have to say. At the start, all that stuff about your CV and the 4-1 defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns, I jumped on that bandwagon. And you proved me wrong.”

BAXTER: “Not a problem, honestly. You’re always very positive. I always like positivity. Forget it, we’ve done the job. No problem at all.”

Phew.

After that, it was fun. The current PSL is blessed with a number of articulate, easy-to-chat-to coaches. Roger de Sa, Steve Khompela, Clive Barker, Gavin Hunt, Zeca Marques. Baxter’s right up there.

“Look, it’s been brilliant. I was locked in the presidential suite because I was suspended at the Peter Mokabe (where Chiefs drew 1-1 to clinch the title on Tuesday against SuperSport United) so I couldn’t soak up the atmosphere until the end.

“But once I got down there, it was magnificent. The AmaKhosi (pronounced in the British manner) are wonderful people.”

I mentioned the gathering of Motaungs. How, finally, the family business had got together for the nation with Jessica, Bobby and Kaizer Junior taking it in turns to heap praise on their father, coach, team and fans. Is there another club anywhere in the world like that, I asked the man who has coached in Britain, Scandinavia and Asia?

“It’s a special club this. Talented people. Good people. In some ways it’s better than where I’ve been before. I some ways it’s been tough, but I expected that.

“Some of the dealings with SAFA are difficult, strange things happen. And the officiating is still concerning… some of the decisions…

“But for me the best thing, the bit I’ve enjoyed the most, is working with the players. I’m not going to put them through boring drills and put them in position. I'm not that kind of coach. We watch videos, discuss what we’re doing… and then go out and play small-sided games. Love it. We all do.

"These players are called Glamour Boys, but they responded so well to my methods.

“We started off just showing the players the Manchester United stuff on video, the coaching videos with footage from Europe, South America, Africa. But then we started to change it. Show some local stuff. Recent action. We ended up watching Bayern Munich.

“They’re the side of the moment, we watch and learn.”

And the surprise player? The hidden gem in the first championship team at Naturena for eight years? Surely, I said, that has to be Tefu Junaid Mashamaite, the 28-year-old born, ironically, in Bochum, the most German-sounding town in Limpopo?

“Good spot,” laughs Baxter, the first foreign coach to win the PSL in his first season, “He’s been a revelation. Always up for it, hard, knows what’s expected of him.”

I made the point: “Pirates fell apart when Siya Sangweni got injured after the African Cup of Nations, but when Tower Mathoho and Morgan Gould got crocked, you had Mashemaite.”

Baxter responded: “Exactly. When we needed him, Tefu was there. All season. It’s players like that who win you championships.

“But you have to mention Itu Khune too. Before I got here, some people told me he wasn’t really a captain, but something must have changed.

“He talks well, he motivates, he cares. Great goalkeeper, great captain.

“Look Neal, I’m here for the long term. I said when I got here I would address the structures at this club, not just the first team and the first season.

“We’re doing that. We haven’t just won the title, we’ve got the Nedbank Cup to come on May 25 – and we know how tough it will be against Gavin Hunt.

“But we’ve also put other things in place. We have exciting things happening at Naturena which I’d like to talk about after the final.

“Our young players will have a way forward, our academy is about to be reborn. I have nutritionists, a university, sports psychologists working with me to produce the next generation of Chiefs.

“This doesn’t end here. This is, I hope, just the beginning. Call me after the final, come down and see what we're building at Kaizer Chiefs. I think you'll be impressed.”

Sundowns fall prey to Gavin Hunt and his little big guns... AGAIN

Breaking the dreadlock: Thabo September

It remains one of the great mysteries of football. How unloved SuperSport United just keep getting one over their illustrious Tshwane rivals Mamelodi Sundowns.
Today's 2-0 Nedbank Cup Final win for the miracle worker Gavin Hunt is a case in point. Sundowns put out all their stars. Elias Palembe, South Africa's highest-paid footballer. Teko Modise, twice South Africa's player of the year when he was at Orlando Pirates. Wayne Sandilands, the best goalkeeper in the country.
I could go on. And I should mention the fact that the Dutch legend Johan Neeskens opted to leave the alleged Killer, Katlego Mphela, on the bench once more as Sundowns oozed class in the opening minutes.
And Hunt? He had teenaged goalkeeper Rowen Williams as his last line of defence, Morgan Gould captaining on the verge of a move to a more affluent club... and the veteran Thabo September next to him.
Incredibly, the penny-pinching Matsatsantsa (The Swanky Boys, apparently) didn't just beat the Gauteng Brazilians, they crushed them. After spending last week moaning about the size of the R1bn five-year sponsorship deal handed by Vodacom to Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, the little guys proved once more than money can't match passion.
Clearly, Sundowns will feel aggrieved. Teko Modise, who left the Buccaneers just before their six-title spree to join the Brazilians, had his chances of ending that personal trophy jinx ruined by last-minute replacement referee Gabriel Sekopo's decision to send off Clayton Daniels.
At half-time, Robert Marawa's SuperSport analysts backed the team named after their broadcasting company, insisting Daniels had to go for denying a clear goal-scoring chance. Rubbish. Goalkeeper Williams and a further defender remained to be beaten when the foul was committed.
Interesting that. Sekopo was only named as the final official at 9am this morning. Zolile Mthetho was announced as the referee on Friday night but mysteriously lost his whistle.
The legendary Dutch master Johan Neeskens, who saw both his league and cup campaigns derailed this season, could barely muster enthusiasm before the match.
He told Carol Tshabalala his side hadn't prepared any differently for the final. Yet for the last two months they've been awful. He appeared dismissive, uninterested in offering his views to the fans. There was a chaotic moment after the red card when his efforts to throw on a substitute and change the shape failed to materialise amid much gesticulating.
Then, after the match, Neeskens said: "It was impossible for us after the sending off. It would have been a better final with 11 against 11. But that is the way football is here."
Sadly, SuperSport (their television interviewers rather than their players) failed to push Neeskens on that. Might have made interesting listening.
Still, after the sending off, Thabo September produced the first-half goal the final needed, thundering in to find a path past my goalkeeper of the season Wayne Sandilands as the man with the Rastafarian hairstyle broke the dreadlock with his first goal of the season.
SuperSport added a second through Kermit Erasmus - was he named after the Sesame Street character? - and it was game over.
Even adding a knock-out cup to the three successive PSL titles they won from 2008 to 2010 won't help SuperSport United's paucity of fans, outnumbered 5,000 to 20,000 in Orlando yesterday. The R6m winners' cheque won't help them to buy top stars.
The Brazilians, backed by billionaire mining magnate Patrice Mtsepe, will remain the megabucks option in the city once known as Pretoria. Hunt will continue to defy the odds.
And even the arrival of the alleged Killer as a second-half sub couldn't alter the balance of power. Modise said afterwards: "It was difficult for us after the sending off. It was a good season for me, but I've got nothing to show for it again. Hopefully things will change."
They certainly will. With Zimbabwean Benjani now available free from cash-strapped English Championship strugglers Portsmouth, Sundowns are sniffing. And that will allow Mphela to switch to Kaizer Chiefs and their new coach Stuart Baxter, the man who recommended Killer to Glasgow Celtic last year, probably with SuperSport captain Morgan Gould, though Sundowns could yet keep him in Tshwane.
And Neeskens, who failed to stop his team's dramatic post-Christmas slump after the 24-goal win over Powerlines in the cup, must surely be considering his future.
Hunt meanwhile will be trying to find a replacement for his key centre-back and leader Gould, just as he did in January 2011 when Bongani Khumalo went off to hibernation with Tottenham Hotspur.
The little man was close to tears afterwards: "That was a great performance. That's one thing this team has. Plenty of heart."
With that he was off to celebrate before tomorrow's PSL Awards ceremony at Gold Reef City, where he will challenge Gordon Igesund for coach of the season. Promises to be some do. And by then we will know where Gould's gold lies.
Ultimately though, this was a fitting climax to the South African season. Though Igesund's Swallows failed narrowly to edge out the Sea Robbers in the League, Hunt's men did the business.
As Thabo September grabbed his green Man of the Match jacket, it struck me - having refereed five Under 7 games this morning: I'm still in love with this game.