‘Benni McCarthy would ruffle feathers at SAFA’-Former teammate reveals
Benni McCarthy is the best candidate to take over the vacant Bafana Bafana job but his courageous approach would ruffle some feathers in the SAFA hierarchy, according to a former teammate.
This is the opinion of ex-Cape Town Spurs star Theo Hempe, who has been quietly observing how McCarthy has been raising his profile in the coaching ranks.
Benni has done wonders at AmaZulu elevating them to the rare comforts of second place in the PSL, and with the Bafana job open after Molefi Ntseki made a mess of it, calls have been made to give the job to the country’s all-time top scorer.
“We have always wanted Benni to be there,” points out Hempe in an interview with KickOff.com.
“For me as a Capetonian I would probably be one of the happiest people and he said a couple of years ago that he would want to take that job. If we are looking for a coach that can get the best for Bafana Bafana, I don’t think we would go wrong with Benni in charge. However, there is obviously a lot of politics involved in South African football as well so I am not sure they would give him the job. You know in the past Benni never made it a secret how he felt about the management of the national team.
Scroll though the gallery above to see McCarthy’s tremendous career trajectory
“You know Benni doesn’t hold back his feelings about this game, and it tends to be interpreted in other ways by those in charge and I am glad he hasn’t changed at all up to now. Why should he change himself when that is the best for the team? This is the best time to get him into the national team since he is on a high and his team is doing so well.
“Bafana needs someone new with new ideas because we are at a stage where we need refresh. Unfortunately, those in charge at SAFA won’t like the way Benni is because he wants to do things his own way and get the results. At the end of the day, he always wants to be his own man than a puppet,” says Hempe, who played with McCarthy at Cape Town Spurs in the 1996/97 season.
“His mentality sets him apart from everyone else. Anyone can get a coaching certificate but not everyone can coach. I don’t think there is any other coach now here in South Africa who can match his passion. I think you can see that he doesn’t hide his emotions and doesn’t know how to hold anything back in his approach. Players also relate to him better because they see a coach that really cares about them in him. With Benni it is always about what benefits the team.”
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