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

The picture that shames South Africa: Johan Neeskens attacked but carries on

In fear of his life: Tiyana's picture of Neeskens yesterday

JOHAN NEESKENS is 61. He played in two World Cup finals for Holland four decades ago. He is the one name in South African football guaranteed to garner global attention.

And yesterday, unruly Mamelodi Sundowns fans decided it would be a good idea to attack their Dutch coach when the bumbling Brazilians went down 2-0 to high-flying Moroka Swallows at Dobsonville.

Poor security – and a paucity of policemen – saw Sundowns fans hit Neeskens with vuvuzelas, leaving him cowering in the tunnel. As a passionate supporter of the plastic horn, I was assured by everyone during the World Cup in 2010 that the vuvuzela would NEVER be used as a weapon. How wrong we were.

Tiyani wa ka Mabasa from kickoff.com snapped pictures of the incident before Neeskens was ushered away and locked in the dressing room. He emerged battered but unbowed and said: “I am frustrated and so are the fans, but it’s normal in football. Its for the club, its for the players, its for myself, but I can handle the pressure and we have to keep working hard and we have to come out of this.”

 “I am not a quitter, I want to continue to fight, but I can’t do it alone. We need to work together.”

Where many might have taken a riot squad Nyala direct to Oliver Tambo international airport, Neeskens was philosophical: “It’s okay if another coach is coming, it’s up to the board of Sundowns to decide if I will stay or not. The players also need to start to take responsibility on the field.”

Brave words. Words which reinforce the view that the Dutchman, capped 49 times by the Oranje, is no run-of-the-mill second-class European import. When he guided Holland to the World Cup final in Germany, 1974 and Argentina four years later, he was hailed as one of the greats, second only to the great Cruyff.

He won the European Cup with Ajax in 1971 and moved with “the other Johan” to Barcelona in 1974 where further honours awaited. A goal-scoring midfielder popular with fans wherever he went, Neeskens scored 111 goals in his professional career – 17 of them for Holland.

At the tail-end of his career in 1979, Neeskens moved to New York Cosmos, where he met a certain Jomo Sono. He recalls: “Jomo played a year with me there and I thought he was a very good player. A very attacking, skilful player who took players on, and he was also popular in the USA."

Neeskens was still playing professionally aged 40 in Switzerland with FC Zug in 1991 before he embarked on a career in coaching.

Neeskens has never hit any great heights as a head coach. He has spent most of his post-playing career an assistant - to Guus Hiddink with the Netherlands and Australia and Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona.

His only stint as a No1 before his appointment at Chloorkop was at  NEC Nijmegen in 2003. He led the Ere Divisie club to their first European appearance in twenty years in 2003, but was fired in 2004.

Sundowns was never going to be easy. Neeskens found himself backed by a technical team which included big characters like Trott Moloto and Daniel “Mambush” Mudau. People who felt they knew better than a Dutchman in Africa.

It’s true the Brazilians have had a poor start to the new season. Without a win in seven games after their astonishing season-opening MTN8 4-1 trouncing of Kaizer Chiefs, Neeskens appears unable to halt the slump -  just as he did when Sundowns let slip a seven-point lead at the top of the PSL after the winter break last season.

But that is no reason to break down fences. No cause to chant the name of Pitso Mosimane, who left Bafana Bafana with little to recommend him earlier this year. And it’s definitely not worth battering a much-respected footballing legend with a vuvuzela.

I spoke to Sundowns PRO Kabelo Mosito on eTV’s Sunrise show yesterday morning. He talked about holding a fan meetings to explain such behaviour is unacceptable. I told him I’d like the video tapes sent to the police for examination, that I’d like to see the guilty fans banned for life from watching their beloved Brazilians. That’s how it SHOULD work.

A month ago, after watching fans invade the pitch and tunnel area after Orlando Pirates lost to SuperSport United 3-0 in the MTN8 semi-final, I called for action to be taken.

Irvin Khoza, chairman of the Buccaneers who doubles as PSL boss, chose to charge his own Ghost and the rival Amakhosi for an earlier bout of bottle throwing. But the promised disciplinary action was postponed on the morning of South Africa’s win over Mozambique earlier this month.

Today, acting PSL CEO Cambridge Mokanyane said: "We condemn this kind of behaviour in the strongest possible terms. What we saw at Dobsonville Stadium is completely unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.

"This faction of supporters is letting our football down; their actions are damaging the image of a product which has a reputable name around the world.

"We will not allow this kind of behaviour at our stadiums. The safety and security of both the players and the fans is our priority."

But after four incidents, the escalating violence in South African football WILL now attract international interest. And that can’t be good for anyone as Sundowns prepare to play Platinum Stars at the Lucas "Masterpieces" Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Sunday night. We can only pray Msandawana end their miserable run of form.

You can read earlier version of this story as my Neal and Pray column in The New Age tomorrow. www.thenewage.co.za.

The news every Gooner dreads: moneybags Manchester City keen on Robin van Persie

IT’S official. The news every Gooner has been dreading. Manchester City and their ridiculously rich backers have targeted Arsenal’s goalden Dutchman Robin van Persie. Arsene Wenger won’t be surprised. He’s already seen Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri head north to Eastlands, lured by the oil-soaked Dirhams on offer from Sheikh Mansour in Abu Dhabi. Arsenal’s bank balance may have improved, but as every Gooners knows, they’re struggling to compete without that handy quartet. Now Roberto Mancini, with his side top of the Premier League, had told The Sun in London: “All good teams are interested in him. At this moment, Robin van Persie is one of the best strikers in Europe with Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Aguero and Mario Balotelli.” Bloody Mancini. He’s already got Aguero and Balotelli on his books. Edin Dzeko isn’t bad. Adebayor is on loan at Spurs and Carlos Tevez is lurking somewhere in the twilight between an apology and Argentina. Five world class strikers is an expensive luxury. Six would be ridiculous. But Mancini is only too aware that without Van Persie, Arsenal would be taken out of the equation as a Premier League threat. With 25 goals this season, he leads the English goalscoring charts by seven from Wayne Rooney. Without those goals, Arsenal probably be languishing somewhere just blow the middle of the tables, with fans at the Emirates Stadium having a right go at Gervinho, Maroune Chamakh and Theo Walcott every week. Arsenal’s potential demise only encourages Mancini, who said: "We are interested in all good players. If there is a good player who wants to leave a club, then we are interested.” Mancini, like Pep Guardiola at Barcelona and Jose Mourinho if he stays at Real Madrid after winning La Liga this season, won’t be put off by Van Persie’s repeated claims of loyalty to Wenger. At 28, he’s out of contract at the end of 2013. The giants are waiting to swoop, with money no object if Van Persie doesn’t sign a new deal before the end of the winter. Mancini claims: "If Van Persie leaves I don't think he will be cheap because he has one year left on his contract. If, for example, you wanted to buy Napoli's Edinson Cavani he would be maybe £30million. "I think Van Persie will sign a new contract. He is Arsenal's best player and it is difficult for them to give him to another club. "I think he is a fantastic striker but I think he will remain with Arsenal." Then why talk about him at all Roberto?