Barker Joins Doctor And More In Qestioning SAFA For Snubbing Bafana Former Player

The former Bafana Bafana Africa Cup of Nations winning coach Clive Barker has urged SAFA to involve the former players in the association.

Barker is not the first one to mention with many former footballers like Siphiwe Tshabalala and Doctor Khumalo having mentioned it before. Barker feels that SAFA was doing well when they lifted AFCON in 1996, and they should draw inspiration from there.

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“I feel they need to use their specialities because they did a very good job when I was in charge,” Barker tells KickOff. “It really, really worries me that they never contacted us, or contacted the players of that era, who know exactly what it takes to win continental competitions.

“I’m on Doctor’s side, they should have made contact with people who made them successful. Even if it was in a meeting over a cup of tea, it should have been done, but of course, they don’t.

“They should have definitely talked to them, I’m on their side. There’s absolutely no reason they shouldn’t get Doctor and those types of players involved at that level.
SAFA should work with former players who know exactly what it took for them to be successful.

“They should be entertained, they should be sharing how they did it, I think Hugo Broos should entertain them more than anybody else. Let’s all do it for the good of the country.”

One of Barker’s prime players that he won the continent’s showpiece with, ’16V’ Khumalo also lambasted the current SAFA for overlooking the legends like Lucas Radebe who walked the football path.

“Just because Lucas said he wants to serve, is there anything wrong with that?” Khumalo asked.

“Do you guys know when we went to the DRC, we had to live for five days with Coke and bread only because we couldn’t eat their food? Is that not sacrifice?

“So, why can’t we be part of the structures? Why can’t the likes of Shakes [Mashaba] be part of the structure? How do we expect football to be better in South Africa if people who walked the path can’t be part of it?”

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Doctor also criticized the current Bafana coach Hugo Broos for not meeting PSL clubs’ coaches and overlooking players like Andile Jali when selecting national team squad.

“We have a current coach [Hugo Broos] that I respect but can’t he meet his colleagues in the PSL? Because there is no leadership, there is no cohesion.

“Clive [Barker] managed to talk to all the coaches while he was still a coach. Our own national team coach, there are certain things he can’t do… You can’t take away from what Sundowns is doing, the best team ever, they have the best players ever,” Khumalo said.

“How do you go and play a serious match and sacrifice South Africans, not the national team and you leave out players that I strongly believe would have made a difference?

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“There’s no way Ethan Brooks could play away against Ghana and give us results when Andile Jali is out there, an experienced player. But with the help of legends, masters, it would have been different. It would have made a difference.”