SOWETO DERBY VERDICT: two insecure coaches, two poorly-run clubs, one point each

ON THE BRINK: Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler

NEVER accuse me of not backing Steve Komphela, the current Kaizer Chiefs coach. Love the bloke. Good for the game.

I’ve backed “Mr English” for years… I suggested him for Bafana Bafana head coach when Pitso Mosimane was forced out, for Orlando Pirates when Roger De Sa left, then as Kaizer Chiefs coach when Stuart Baxter walked away.

But on Saturday afternoon, after a pretty routine Soweto Derby ended 1-1, Komphela’s outpourings, always easy to understand, verged on the inexplicable.

The former school master from Kroonstad told us: “We can relegate or elevate the PSL. It is our job to elevate. Perhaps it is time to invite international officials to South Africa.”

Essentially, Komphela - one of eleven children growing up in the Free State in the transitional 1980s - is doing what he always does. Seeking attention.

His style, immaculate in dress and voice, demands that we listen to a man who ran his own talk show when he played in Turkey - in Turkish.

Yes, Komphelikated is right. There are times when you look at a game in South Africa and think: it’s too much for this referee. Our officials are neither fit enough nor experienced enough to handle an 80,000 crowd baying for blood.

But this particular episode was curious. Komphela’s chiefs got the rub of the green on Saturday. The disallowed first half goal, a brush of the hand in the penalty area, an obvious advantage not played when Orlando Pirates were through on goal.

It was Eric Tinkler, under far more pressure, who gave the measured response: “Referees are only human. They make mistakes, we have to accept that, even when it affects lives.”

To my sensation-seeking eyes, Komphela appeared to be furious with the referee not because he was poor, but because he hadn’t given the mighty AmaKhosi the help they are now accustomed to.

Pirates are run by a 68-year-old who has dominated South African football for 30 years. Chiefs were created by a footballing legend whose son makes up his own rules. There’s not easy path for referees when these two super-powers come together.

But perhaps, if you can get past Komphela’s call for international referees, there are more obvious solutions to the problems facing South African football.

Both Pirates and Chiefs have now drawn more games than they’ve won this season. Two days before the biggest game of the season, the most prominent Buccaneer Kermit Erasmus went off and signed for Stade Rennes after claiming he was going to see the in-laws in Holland.

Neither club made a real signing during the transfer window - William Twala came from Chippa, but only thanks to a couple of loan rangers who were sent to Port Elizabeth - and in truth the Soweto Derby was a mid-table scramble.

Two poorly run clubs playing average football with a barely-acceptable level of entertainment in front of 80,000 fans. It’s been this way for years. Komphela barely pushed more than one player forward, Tinkler resorted to Rooi Mahamutsa’s long throw-ins as his major weapon.

And lurking in the background, the return of Stuart Baxter, replacing Gordon Igesund and SuperSport United. Not to mention the striker he recommended to Kaizer Chiefs, James Keene, now scoring freely for Wits.

It just doesn't make any sense. Ask last year's PSL player of the year Tefu Mashamaite or Chiefs top-scorer Mandla Masango, both now exiled in chilly Scandinavia.

Barely six months ago, Baxter led Chiefs to championship at Chiefs which destroyed dozens of long-established records. He left Naturena because Bobby Motaung refused to allow him a say in new signings. Will he now pose a threat to his old club?

At Pirates, Tinkler is still waiting for the “clear-the-air” meeting with Irvin Khoza which was promised after the CAF Confederations Cup final defeat last year. Screamer Tshabalala and Floyd Mbele barely reached for a pen during the transfer window, despite the long-term injury to Oupa Manyisa and the unexpected departure of Erasmus.

Tinkler goes from game to game, expecting the chop. How he does it is beyond me, he looked on the verge of a breakdown after half-time against Maritzburg United but still grabbed a point. But he has to go. We all know that. Will Igesund be in the frame? Is there anybody else?

These are not ordinary football questions. Nowhere else in the world will you find a league where crowd figures are top-secret, players simply disappear in mid-contract and clubs go through three or four coaches in one season.

So let's look at the head of this rotten fish. The truth is, Khoza and Motaung have held too much power for too long in South African football. It creates problems for our national team all the way down to our National First Division, where Santos coach Zeca Marques told me last week: “Neal, the NFD is pre-determined, it’s unbelievable.”

But our football stumbles on. We have analysts who refuse to offer honest opinions for fear of irritating Bobby and the Iron Duck. We have former professionals who no longer appear to offer their thoughts because they dared to be critical.

Komphela can complain about the officials all he wants. The truth is, in a nation famous for match-fixing and the phantom African Diaspora fund, referees are the least of our worries.

When our own Tokyo Sexwale can barely muster a vote from the rest of Africa in his bid for the FIFA presidency, you know the problems run deep.

Still, SAFA president Danny Jordaan’s second job - as mayor of Port Elizabeth - may soon be gone. Perhaps he’ll find time to fix things soon.

Point taken: but perhaps South Africa's footballing giants need a little bit more than a pair of droopy draws

Of buses and coaches: Mosimane and Komphela

Drawlando Pirates. AmaDrawsi. Just had to make the point. Between them, the two Soweto giants have drawn more than they've won.

And there was not a lot to shout about as the PSL finally cranked back in to action with a pair of droopy draws for South Africa's biggest clubs.

Those long breaks which reduced most clubs to two games in two months certainly don’t help. First the U23s stopped the league for three weeks. Then the Telkom Cup and one league game before the three-week Festive Season.

Fortunately Bafana Bafana didn’t qualify for CHAN, or we’d have to consider a further break.

But hey. We were excited. Local football is back! But when Orlando Pirates failed to raise the Ghost against Platinum Stars the old problems were back too. Coach Eric Tinkler came out with his usual line after the 1-1 draw saying: “There’s no way I’ll resign. I’m not a quitter.”

Then: "If you look at the chances created, we are top. There were 60pts to play for before this game and we are going for all of them. It's difficult to get them but we have that belief"

"Do I feel the pressure? Yes. Nobody wants to fail. I came here to succeed, to win things. A lot of it also has to come from the players.”

All fair enough. All more or less what we’ve heard before. The social network Buccaneers have their knives out; they are after Tinkler’s head but with Irvin Khoza apparently unavailable, it’s unlikely the guillotine will fall soon.

The interesting bit will come when Pirates, now released from African tours after losing the final of the CAF Confederations Cup, get the jump on the four clubs that qualified for continental competition this season.

Champions Kaizer Chiefs and runners-up Mamelodi Sundowns are our African Champions League entrants, and with the league not even at the halfway point, the fixture congestion will surely bite if they get to the group stages.

But looking at their clash on Saturday night, that might not happen. Like it didn’t last season.

They met on Saturday night, the big two. And we were treated to one of the worst first halves I can remember - barely a chance worth mentioning - and though things improved in the second stanza, it was hardly the kind of stuff to frighten the likes of TP Mazembe.

Afterwards, bus-parking coaches Steve Komphela and Pitso Mosimane tried to persuade us it had been a fascinating clash of the giants.

Mosimane described the last 10 minutes as “like pound-for-pound heavyweight boxing, going for the kill” and Komphela assured us both sides tried to snatch it as “the game opened up”.

Fair enough. Tebogo Langerman’s 35m effort hit the post with Reyaad Pieterse stranded. George Maluleke made a hash of his one-on-one which might have been off-side. Khama Billiat forced a good save out of Pieterse on the near post.

But in truth it was dire. Komphela, as Pitso said post-match, sent his team out to defend too deeply. Often he had nine behind the ball, and there was much talk about Christmas being spent studying tactics.

That may or may not be true. What is obvious though is the utter lack of quality on show. While the faithful commentators assured us it was “like a chess game” and “end to end stuff” we watched, head in hands, as crosses were over-hit, control was lost and long balls were resorted to.

Remember, Chiefs and Sundowns are probably the best two teams in the country. Though we are not given figures as they did in the Premier League last week, they probably have the highest wage bills too.

But to see Maluleke’s glaring duff, Wayne Arendse’s free header missed, under-used Sula Matovu subbed after coming on as a sub, both defences hacking the ball long, was neither edifying nor entertaining.

The commentators won’t tell you this. Neither will the coaches. Nor will many in the media, though SuperSport Analyst Zane Moosa had the courage to call Chiefs AmaDrawsi at the finish, as I suggested to him weeks ago.

Truth is, the PSL is slipping behind. We don’t pay for big name foreigners during transfer windows (as I mentioned last week), we have long gaps in our fixture list, the pitch at Soccer City, as Pitso pointed out, was “just sand”.

None of these things help our game, with Bafana Bafana facing two make or break AFCON 2017 qualifiers against Cameroon at the end of March.

By then, I suspect long breaks will be long forgotten. The pressure will be on, particularly at Chiefs, Sundowns, Wits and Ajax.

And, hopefully, the standard will improve. Before fatigue sets in.