Giving
the fans what they want is not always a good idea.
I
remember in December 2010, the Anfield faithful belted out the name of a club
legend. Nothing untoward there. The fans chanted Kenny Dalglish’s name, calling
for him to replace Roy Hodgson as Liverpool manager. The suits at Liverpool
gave in to the fans demands and Hodgson promptly walked alone out of the club
to give way for the second coming of King Kenny. Reds’ fans probably saw the
return of the good times to Anfield in their heads. Dalglish was given a huge
wad of cash for new players and signed Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez early on
for a combined 55 million pounds. Liverpool went on to finish the 2010/2011
season in 6th place, with King Kenny being hailed for his rescue job. Riiiight.
Anyhow, in the last European summer, Dalglish was given more cash to spend on
new players which he chose to spend on recruiting Jordan Henderson, Andy
Carroll and Stewart Downing and Craig Bellamy who came in on a fee transfer.
The wave of optimism continued at Anfield. For all it seemed that the club was
serious about reclaiming its position at the top of English football. the club
went on to win the Carling Cup and made it to the FA Cup Final but finished in
a dismal 8th in the league, a result that ultimately led to King Kenny’s second
coming being cut very short. The fans got what they wanted in the end, but it
wasn’t as good as they thought it would be.
Arsenal
suffered their worst start to a league season and were hovering just above the
relegation places last season following an 8-2 defeat to Manchester United. Fans
were humiliated by that result and were frustrated that Arsene Wenger let go of
star players Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri and didn’t seem to have replacements
for them or a back-up plan lined up. There was growing discontent amongst the
club’s supporters and some were questioning whether Wenger had done all he
could with the club for the first time. Well, the Arsenal board didn’t yield to
the fans anger and kept Wenger. Who honestly thought he’d get axed anyways?
Long story short, Arsenal had a remarkable run in the league and finished
comfortably in third place above Tottenham who at one point were 13 points
above their North London neighbours.
Chelsea
fans endured a torrid time whilst Andree Villa-Boas was in charge of their
club. AVB was always under scrutiny last season, though he felt he was pretty
safe in his job, considering the investment the club had made in him. Chelsea
fans don’t care much for stuff like that. Theirs is a club backed by a
super-rich owner who is prone to petulant streaks and fires managers on a whim.
AVB was promptly shown the door after a dreadful run that saw Chelsea winless
in six matches. The fans wanted change and they got it. Roberto di Matteo, a
Chelsea legend as a player assumed the manager’s mantle and more than any Chelsea
fan could have expected and led the club to a first ever Champions league
triumph. You might or might not remember that Chelsea fans called on Roman
Abramovich to hire Di Matteo as manager when Luis Felipe Scolari was in charge
of the side. Well they got what they want, eventually, and it turned out pretty
well for them. But only time will tell and a full season in charge of the club
might raise different opinions on RDM.
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| Miracle Man |
This
all brings me to Gordon Igesund and Bafana Bafana. He has been tasked with perhaps
an unenviable job of taking Bafana to the semi-finals of next year’s AFCON
tournament on home soil and qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. It has
been reported that Steve Khompela was the man who was preferred for the job by
the suits at SAFA, but public opinion demanded Igesund and whether or not they
caved it to this pressure, we will not know. What we do know is that Bafana
fans expect a miracle from Igesund and I do think we are well within our rights
to expect miracles of him. His pedigree as a coach in the PSL gives us this
right. Not only has he won the league four times, but he has won the league
with some highly unglamorous sides such as Manning Rangers and Santos and he
turned around Moroka Swallows’ fortunes dramatically, from a club fighting
relegation one season to a league contender right up until the last day of the
next season. Unfortunately, he starts his job on the back foot somewhat. Pitso
Mosimane left behind a side low on morale and without a win in the World Cup
Qualifiers. The whole nation has pinned its hope on a man who has been regarded
as the best coach in South Africa for a long time and many will be hoping he
delivers excellent performances and results and none of the arrogance and blame
shifting that plagued the Mosimane era.
It
is a new dawn for South African football, perhaps this is said all too often
considering the number of false dawns that have been experienced, but the
nation finally has a coach that it wants.
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