PERFECT TIME FOR A HOLIDAY IN SOUTH AFRICA: Baxter is back and Gord himself is sweating

NOT QUITE SECRET: Stuart Baxter and
his wife board the Gaurtrain on Friday
PICTURE: SIMPHIWE NKWALI

It was 9.30pm on a quiet Friday night when... in the space of a few seconds.... the job security of several PSL coaches dipped substantially.

The innocent beep of the SMS, and there it was. Stuart Baxter’s text message telling me: “This will be my temporary number while I am in South Africa…”

The number remains top secret of course. I wouldn’t have said a word. The former Kaizer Chiefs coach, winner of two PSL titles and three knock-out trophies in three short years at Naturena always said he was coming back.

Officially, the man who guided the AmaKhosi back to the big time, who finished last season with a record 69 points, is “only here with the missus to see some friends”. Unofficially, there was no stopping the news of Baxter’s return spreading like wild-fire through the football-speaking nation.

By lunchtime the next day, one tweep had seen him on a flight in to OR Tambo International Airport. Another had snatched the picture above, of Stuart and his Swedish wife Cecilia on the Gautrain. The word was out.

At 3pm the next day, we saw SuperSport United, with several of their expensive, high-profile signings out, fall to Cavin Johnson’s Platinum Stars. They were rubbish. The irony was not. SuperSport coach Gordon Igesund replaced Johnson at the helm last season, and spent MILLIONS on reconstruction with agents and officials rubbing their hands in glee.

They added two more to the Antipodean contingent spearheaded by Jeremy Brockie, and tempted not one but TWO former Bafana captains to join Gord’s crusade: Bongani Khumalo, who barely played in four years for Tottenham Hotspur, and Dean Furman, unable to persuade Blackburn Rovers or Bury to print out a contract over the winter.

With probably the best starting eleven on paper anywhere in the country this season, Igesund has failed to produce results. With the PSL now carefully put back in the box until October 17, SuperSport stand 13th out of our 16 Premier clubs.

Stanley Matthews, the canny CEO, wanted to put his club back among the big-hitters, remembering all too well Khumalo’s previous tenure at Matsatsantsa (Definition: Trendsetter, Swanky Boys) under Gavin Hunt when they won the PSL title three years in a row from 2008-2010.

A lot of money has changed hands. Expectations were sky high. Sadly, Igesund is struggling. He may have won the PSL a record four times with four different clubs, but as his reign at Bafana Bafana showed, there are weaknesses, not least of which his apparent lack of ability to adapt to modern players with big reputations.

Igesund is from the Sir Alex Ferguson school: Players are there to work, not drive about in fast cars and behave like David bloody Beckham.

So there we were on Saturday night, caught between Orlando Pirates' rousing 1-0 win over Al Ahly and Kaizer Chiefs' absorbing 1-1 draw at Ajax Cape Town… and Baxter appeared as a late recruit on our television screens to deliver a gentle verdict on his successor Steve Komphela.

Igesund won’t have missed the perfection of Baxter’s timing. With one win and two draws from six games this season, Gord’s improvement of Matsatsantsa’s form last season no longer matters. This term they have five points out of a possible 18, a goal difference of -5. Frankly, the millions invested were expected to produce a start to the season which didn’t raise fears of relegation.

Of course, Khulu Sibiya, the SSU chairman, denies everything: “I have not seen Stuart Baxter and none of my people have contacted him, they aren’t supposed to. We have a coach, Gordon Igesund. I expect him to finish his contract.”

But contact has been made. And Igesund IS under pressure. Just look at the colour of his face as his side slipped to that nightmarish 3-1 defeat against Johnson’s Dikwena on Saturday. Bright red.

There are others sharing similar concerns. Eric Tinkler’s discomfort was eased by Saturday night’s first leg CAF Confederations Cup win over the Egyptian giants, but Orlando Pirates fans insist he’s never been more than a space filler on their bench.

Pitso Mosimane, despite winning the PSL the season before last, found a loud sector of the Sundowns’ following baying for his blood in midweek despite a rousing last-gasp 3-2 win over Roger De Sa’s Ajax. A 2-0 win over Jomo Cosmos moves him up to sixth today and surely ends any sack race debate.

We could talk about Maritzburg United too. They tried to call Baxter a fortnight ago but (obviously) his mobile phone number had changed. They've opted for 72-year-old Clive Barker to lead them off the bottom, but his former club Mpumalanga Black Aces gave them a good tonking today.

And how about BafanaBafana? Baxter has been there before, but with Ephraim Mashaba looking particularly Shaky this year, few doubt the man from Wolverhampton would do a better job.

But in truth Baxter has always been in the SuperSport United cross-hairs. They have the cash, channelled from DSTV’s bulging coffers, and they have the players.  They just need somebody to put it together, seal a defence Igesund confesses is “simply not good enough”.

A Willard Katsande or a decent defensive central midfielder to the mix and SuperSport would soon rejoin the contenders, playing the canny Baxter way.

Sibiya can deny it all he wants. Baxter is the answer. And after walking away from Kaizer Chiefs at his peak when Bobby Motaung refused to let him have a say in player movement, he’d love nothing more.

Having been ousted just two games in to the season by Turkish club Gencerbigli a month ago, a holiday in South Africa was always on the cards. Let's see how long it lasts.

SEE ALSO:

Baxter on his FIRST sacking: http://neal-collins.blogspot.co.za/2015/08/exclusive-former-kaizer-chiefs-coach.html

EXCLUSIVE: former Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter on his first EVER sacking... and his future

THREESOME: the Eto'o goal that sunk Baxter

STUART BAXTER is raging. But in a good way. Sacked by Turkish strugglers Genclerbirligi after just two games, the man who took Kaizer Chiefs to two PSL titles in three years is looking forward to a swift return to football.

I'll flesh this story out later, but the talking points come in a rush: "I've never been fired before in my life. And the missus has been on the phone asking when we're going back to South Africa."

Baxter said when he left Chiefs - after being denied a part in player negotiations after winning the PSL for the second time - that he would love to return to South Africa. And with Shakes Mashaba not enjoying the greatest of success with Bafana Bafana, there are obvious conclusions to be drawn.

But the Chippa United-style decision to axe Baxter and his management team after just two games deserves closer examination.

"It was a joke Neal," he tells me by phone from Ankara, "We won ALL our pre-season friendlies and tanked Dutch club FC Twente 5-0. We were looking good, everything was going well.

"Then we start the league and we're 2-1 up... but we concede a goal and the heads go down. We lost 3-2 (to Rizasport). The second game, we're playing Samuel Eto'o's team (Antalyaspor) and we're doing fine... until the last minute.

"We've got an inexperienced ref, he misses a two-footed tackle and Eto'o sticks away the goal to make it 3-1. The journalists made a huge fuss about it.

"We walk in the dressing room afterwards and the 82-year-old chairman, who's had an average of nearly two coaches a season for the 37 years he's been in charge at Genclerbirligi, goes bonkers.

"He tells the entire technical team to pack their stuff and go. We've been here eight weeks. We're just getting started, we look good. But he wants us all gone.

"I didn't bother arguing. He couldn't even remember by name. The players tried to stand up for us, but the chairman told them not to cross the line. It's the fitness coach I brought from Kaizer Chiefs I feel sorry for. And my lad (oldest son Lee), who gave up a five-year contract in Sweden (with AIK Solna) to come here. His wife gave up her job too.

"I'll be fine. I've got hold of my lawyers and we'll have a meeting with the chairman. Will I go back if he says it was all an over-reaction? How can I after this? It makes South Africa look like a nursery school in comparison."

Genclerbirligi haven't finished above ninth for five years in the Turkish league. They last won it in 1949. Baxter only signed one player, Olaf Skulason from Iceland "because we didn't have much in the midfield, and he cost peanuts."

The chairman Ilhan Cavcav has indeed been in charge since 1977 and was born in 1935. In 2014 he threatened to fine any Genclegrbirligi player simply for having a beard. His undemocratic running of the club has led to court cases and accusations of corruption.

But Baxter insists he harbours no ill-feelings: "I have a one-year contract. I'll be able to go back to South Africa and buy a bigger house, that's what I told the missus!

"These things happen in football. My lawyers will sort this out. I'm more concerned about the rest of my technical team than about myself. I'll be back."

What the world thinks of the Soweto derby: 30th place for Kaizer Chiefs v Orlando Pirates

ACCORDING to FootballDerbies.com, South Africa's showdown between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates is not as important as South Africans like to think.

Using a points system based on atmosphere, coverage and attendance, they rate the Turkish showdown between Istanbul's arch-rivals Fenerbahce and Galatasary as the number one local footballing rivalry in the world, just ahead of Argentina's Boca Juniors v River Plate (SuperClasico) and the Old Firm derby in Glasgow between the Roman Catholics of Celtic and the Protestant Rangers (who have just been sent to the bottom tier of Scottish football after financial problems).

El Clasico? Nowhere. That's because they're not LOCAL rivals. They don't both come from the same CITY. The first list below comprises only derbies between NEIGHBOURING sides. In fact, Barcelona SC v Emelec - the big "El Clásico del Astillero" clash in Ecuador - slots in at 11th.

AmaKhosi taking on the Buccaneers rates at just 30th on the FootballDerbies list - but that's still way ahead of the Manchester derby (44) and the Merseyside derby (49). Given the game on Saturday is a sell out and Soccer City has a capacity of 94,736, there is no question where the BIGGEST game will be this weekend.

The North London derby between Arsenal and Spurs, like the Real v Atletico Madrid clash, doesn't make the top 50.

Liverpool v Manchester United ranks top of their LOCAL DERBIES, while predictably El Clasico tops the list of national rivalries.

Here's their list... see what you think.


City Derbies

1 Fenerbahce - Galatasaray                             9.4

2 Boca Juniors - River Plate                             9.3

3 Celtic FC - Rangers FC                                9.1

4 Olympiakos Piraeus - Panathinaikos              8.6

5  AS Roma - Lazio Roma                               8.5

6 Flamengo - Fluminense                                  8.5

7 Red Star Belgrade - Partizan Belgrade           8.5

8 Al Ahly - Zamalek                                         8.4

9  Penarol - Nacional Montevideo                    8.3

10 Sevilla FC - Betis Sevilla                             8.2

11 Barcelona SC - Emelec                                 8

12 Benfica - Sporting Lisbon                              8

13 CSKA Sofia - Levski Sofia                           8

14 Genoa - Sampdoria                                       8

15   Gremio - Internacional                                 8

16 Independiente - Racing Club                          8

17  Olimpia - Cerro Porteno                               8

18  Palmeiras - Corinthians                                 8

19 Universidad de Chile - Colo Colo                  8

20 AC Milan - Inter Milan                                7.8

21 Aris Saloniki - PAOK Saloniki                     7.8

22 Aston Villa - Birmingham City                      7.8

23 Bolivar - The Strongest                                7.8

24 Esteghlal - Perspolis                                     7.8

25 Vasco da Gama - Flamengo                         7.8

26 Wydad - Raja                                              7.8

27 Zeljeznicar - FK Sarajevo                            7.8

28 Dinamo Bucharest - Steaua Bucharest          7.7

29 East Bengal - Mohun Bagan                         7.7

30 Orlando Pirates - Kaizer Chiefs               7.7

31 Rosario Central - Newell's Old Boys            7.7

32 Sao Paulo - Palmeiras                                  7.7

33 Atletico Mineiro - Cruzeiro                           7.6

34 Besiktas JK - Fenerbahce                            7.6

35 Alianza Lima - Universitario                          7.5

36 Fluminense - Botafogo                                  7.5

37 Galatasaray - Besiktas JK                            7.5

38 Panathinaikos - AEK Athens                        7.5

39 Velez Mostar - Zrinjski Mostar                   7.5

40 Atletico Paranaense - Coritiba                    7.4

41 Ferencvaros - Ujpest                      7.4

42 Gimnasia - Estudiantes                  7.4

43 Hearts - Hibernian                           7.4

44 Manchester United - Manchester City                   7.4

45 Universidad Catolica - Universidad de Chile                          7.4

46 AEK Athens - Olympiakos Piraeus                             7.3

47 Boavista - Porto                                7.3

48 Club Africain - Esperance                              7.3

49 Everton - Liverpool FC                    7.3

50 San Lorenzo - Huracan                   7.3

51 Wisla Krakow - Cracovia Krakow                                7.3

52 Arsenal - Tottenham Hotspur                     7.2

53 Atletico Nacional - Independiente Medellin                         7.2

54 America de Cali - Deportivo Cali                                 7.1

55 Karsiyaka - Goztepe                        7.1

56 LKS Lodz - Widzew Lodz                                7.1

57 Santa Fe - Millonarios                     7.1

58 AIK Stockholm - Djurgardens IF                                 7

59 Atletico Madrid - Real Madrid                     7

60 Bahia - Vitoria                    7

61 Brentford FC - QPR                          7

62 Djurgardens IF - Hammarby                        7

63 Maccabi Haifa - Hapoel Haifa                       7

64 Saprissa - Alajuelense                    7

65 Spartak Moscow - CSKA Moscow                              7

66 West Ham United - Millwall FC                   7

67 Apoel Nicosia - Omonia Nicosia                  6.8

68 Sheffield Wednesday - Sheffield United                               6.8

69 Lyn - Valerenga                                 6.7

70 Dundee FC - Dundee United                       6.6

                

  Local Derbies

1 Liverpool FC - Manchester United                            8

2 Saint Etienne - Olympique Lyon                                 8

3 Sunderland AFC - Newcastle United                        8

4 Schalke 04 - Borussia Dortmund                             7.8

5 Ipswich Town - Norwich City                                 7.7

6 Southampton - Portsmouth                                      7.6

7 Cardiff City - Swansea City                                     7.5

8 Deportivo de la Coruna - Celta de Vigo                   7.4

9 West Bromwich Albion - Aston Villa                        7.1

19 Wolves - West Bromwich Albion                           7.1

20 Blackburn Rovers - Burnley                                    7

               

Rivalries

1  Barcelona - Real Madrid                                8.9

2 Hajduk Split - Dinamo Zagreb                         8.6

3 Ajax - Feyenoord                                            8.4

4 Paris St. Germain - Olympique Marseille          8.3

5  Chivas - America                                            8

6 Arsenal - Manchester United                            7.8

7 Trabzonspor - Fenerbahce                               7.6

8 Porto - Benfica                                                7.5

9 Panathinaikos - PAOK Saloniki                       7.3

10 PAOK Saloniki - Olympiakos Piraeus           7.3

11 PSV Eindhoven - Ajax                                  7.3

12 Anderlecht - Club Brugge                             7.2

13 Feyenoord - PSV Eindhoven                        7

14 PAOK Saloniki - AEK Athens                     7

15 Sporting Lisbon - Porto                                7

16 Olimpija Ljubljana - NK Maribor                 6.5

17 Sydney FC - Melbourne Victory                 6

18 Kapaz - Neftci                                           5.8