Mninawa Ntloko
21 November 2007
Johannesburg — THERE's a frightening rumour about beleaguered national soccer team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira that seems to be building more steam with each passing day.
Word doing the rounds suggests that the 64-year-old Brazilian could be quietly planning to make a mad dash for it next year, after finding out first hand that the longer he stays in the job, the greater the chance that he'll not be around when his 22-month-old twin grandchildren hit their teenage years.
After failing to reignite Bafana Bafana's appetite for winning consistently, Parreira has apparently decided he wants out and is now believed to be quietly plotting his exit in a calculated plan that is intended to come together next year. Who could blame him if the gossip-mongers are on the money?
This is, after all, a hot seat that prompted previous occupants to advise Parreira -- when he was contemplating the South African Football Association's R1,8m a month salary offer last August -- that such is the pressure that grey hairs are inevitable.
This is a job that encouraged such a heightened sense of paranoia in one coach that he was convinced that his office was bugged. This is a job that one former coach achieved what no expensive weight-loss programme could -- got him to fit into suits and other items of clothing he hadn't worn in years.
More importantly, he's just found out that South Africans simply do not tolerate defeat.
But Parreira is not blameless and his erratic behaviour over the past few weeks seems to add credence to suspicion that he could indeed be trying to wiggle out of residing in Johannesburg for the next 32 months.
The man has become increasingly hostile to the media in a suicidal move that has left him with very few hacks in his corner.
The chorus of criticism has heightened to such an extent that even those observers who pleaded for patience with the coach are starting to question some of his rather curious decisions.
But Parreira has ignored all the discontent and seems hell-bent on doing everything in his power to further irk the media.
Last Saturday, the Bafana coach gave the waiting media the middle finger and did not attend the post-match press conference after the national team had meekly surrendered to the US at Ellis Park.
Of course, the Bafana spin doctors furiously claimed that there was a communication breakdown that led to Parreira missing the briefing.
But the supposed breakdown seemingly did not affect the US as their coach and captain were available for questions after the game. In any case, no one was going to believe that lousy yarn as we've observed that Parreira has not turned up at post-match conference on several occasions now.
Hell, he did not even bother to make an appearance after the team actually won a game -- which is as common an occurance these days as spotting Halley's Comet.
And then there is the small matter of some of his selections that have raised a lot of eyebrows.
While claiming to be building for the 2010 World Cup, young players have been in short supply and old warhorses have continued to make appearances in numbers.
Then there is the curious selection of perennial bench warmer Rowen Fernandez and Siyabonga Nkosi, who had not played a match for Bundesliga side Arminia Bielefeld for weeks as he was returning from injury.
You guessed it, both were included in the squad to face the US. But the coach saw fit to dump Benedict Vilakazi because, wait for it, the diminutive midfielder had not played since joining Danish side Aarlborg in July.
But dare question these bizarre decisions and you risk incurring Parreira's wrath, as journalists found out at the press conference to announce the squad to face the US.
"We are not going to explain why players are out or why some of them are in," the visibly incensed Parreira barked when asked about the double standards. Now think about it, what national team coach tries his damndest to infuriate the media this way?
Little wonder then that some soccer bosses have also noted the erratic behaviour and no longer believe the rumour to be that far-fetched.
Time will tell if we will indeed be coach hunting next year.
Ntloko is deputy sports editor.
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