« Blog Home
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars
Loading ... Loading ...

There is a tendency in South African football to use one’s knowledge — or rather ignorance — as analysis in itself. If you know a name of a player or a coach, then that person is good. If you don’t, he is bad.

You might remember the first time Delron Buckley and Hans Vonk were called up to the national football team, a Sunday newspaper famously ran a headline asking, “Who are this palookas?”

It was a common example of ignorance that we have had to live with. Buckley had, for example, played for the youth teams before the German scout saw his talents and offered him a career there. Vonk was playing for one of the better teams in Holland and was highly regarded in that country. It is history that the two have gone on to be among the best players to have donned the Bafana Bafana jersey.

This brings me to the reaction to Orlando Pirates new coach, Rudi Krol. Some idiots, yes I meant idiots, are already calling him a palooka. Their reason: They don’t know him! As if being known by them is an endorsement.

They are on about how a local coach should have been brought in, or Ghana coach at the Africa Cup of Nations they hosted, Claude Le Roy, should have been given the job. In defence of the idiots, they are consistent about their reasons for preferring Le Roy as for not taking a liking to Krol. They know Le Roy.

In the absence of a crystal ball, predicting how coaches will fare can only be based on what they have achieved previously. That said, conditions at a club where they will work are also important in predicting chances of success.

That is why I say, based on what we have read, Rudi Krol is by far the best qualified coach in terms of playing and coaching experience that Orlando Pirates have had since 1937! If people have other names that they think were better coaches than Krol, let them name them.

Of course there are many coaches that have achieved great success at Pirates, but that is not what we are talking about. I am saying that at the time of employment, no new Pirates coach has presented better credentials than Krol.

Of course Krol might fail. This could be because of his own faults or because the players failing to implement his ideas. There is always the chance that Pirates management will live up to its reputation of snatching mediocrity from the jaws of greatness. There are just too many examples of the club succeeding in this self-destruction mode since it was founded.

For now, well done to the chairman for going for the best man. I know I am with millions of others who share the same love for the club by hoping this is the turning point to restoring the glory that is the birthright of this club.

I just hope that he will follow this up with getting the players who deserve to wear that black and white jersey that is for some of us, an article of faith.




Related Posts
  • None

2 Responses to “Krol: The turning point for beloved Bucs”

Temper temper Fikile…Jiz!!! Chill man.

Anyway, will he be given a cellphone? I know you are asking yourself, is’t relevant to this topic? Yes offcourse Mr Moya it’s at the core of this situation…if he does get a cellphone, just watch those sms’s that will keep coming from the seats behind him, instructing him to “take that player off”, “tell that one to warm-up”, “tell the striker to swap with mid fielder”…and so forth

We can be far from the bench but we know such crap happens down there or must I say up there…You are saying I’m talking bullocks, ask ODG -he knows better than anyone else does.

(Report abuse)

Siphiwo Qangani with kangaroos on June 14th, 2008 at 5:05 pm

Siphiwo, ODG said recently that no such interference happened. As Fikile is saying in his posting, there is a lot of ignorance in SA football analysis and reporting paraded as fact. My plea to SA football fans before we condemn, let us first get the facts right. This negativity is not helping in growing SA fooball beyond its mainly black support.

(Report abuse)

Thami on June 15th, 2008 at 3:21 pm

Leave a Reply

All comments must be approved by our editors, click here to read the editorial guidelines for comments. Please allow some time for our editors to approve your comment after posting.

Send me the Thought Leader daily newsletter

profile
Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya is an Orlando Pirates supporter who earns a living as an associate editor/sports editor for the Mail & Guardian. He has never made promises that his love affair with the Buccaneers will not affect his professional judgement when carrying out his responsibilities, and he is not about to. Like many who swear by that proud institution of our people, he is sometimes mistaken for a die-hard supporter. One either supports Pirates or they don't. There is no middle ground.
Technorati RSS
Fikile-Ntsikelelo's links
Tyler on Facebook
Connect with Tyler on Facebook.
Tyler Reed's Blog
Tyler blogs about business, online media, marketing and life.
more posts
First, let me state here that I had nothing to do with the tag under which this blog is appearing -- that of calling football socc… I can’t even w...
As French author and philosopher Albert Camus once said: “All that I know most surely about morality and obligations I owe to football”, I too owe...
latest activity
Blog Statistics
Total reads 1298
Total comments 4
Fikile-Ntsikelelo's tags
advertisement
All material copyright of the author, or the Mail & Guardian, unless otherwise specified
Author Login
Afrigator