Joel Santana has resigned – or been sacked – depending on who you ask, but considering Safa hired the Brazilian in the first place, why would his replacement be any better, asks Rob Peters.

Right, so Joel Santana did the honourable thing and walked, or, and this is more likely, he was pushed. But regardless of how it went down, the result is still the same — he's gone. But what now?

I wouldn't start celebrating Santana's demise too soon because the guys who hired him in the first place — on the say-so of a chap who had just dropped them in the cactus — are responsible for finding his replacement.

Bear in mind that Santana was being paid R1.5-million per month — that's not including match-win bonuses (although granted there would not have been many)! Santana left just short of 18 months in charge of the team, meaning that Safa has shelled out around R27-million on a coach who has left us high and dry less than a year away from the World Cup.

So, what has been achieved during his period in charge? Have there been improvements at grass-roots level? Have new stars, who will be capable of upstaging the world's best, been unearthed? Is this team capable of progressing beyond the pool stages of the tournament and into the play-offs?

We all know the answer.

I can't speak for everybody else, but for that kind of money I would expect world-beaters by now. Hell, I would be happy if there were notable improvements, but there aren't. Nope, Santana has been a waste of time and money.

So, who do we turn to? You would think we would finally give a local the chance to take over. Not only will he have the local knowledge Santana did not, but he — whoever 'he' is — will be cheaper than the last coach.

We have a number of local coaches to choose from. Gavin Hunt has had great success with SuperSport United, Clive Barker has the experience, while Gordon Igesund is one of the most successful coaches in South African history.

Hunt and Barker were both appointed by Safa to monitor Santana a couple of weeks ago, so that must mean they have faith in the two men. That's a good sign, right?

Erm, no…

Because by all accounts, it seems Safa is looking to backtrack and bring back Carlos Alberto Parreira. For those of you who need reminding, that's the chap I mentioned earlier… the one who dropped us in the cactus.

Who should replace Santana? Should Safa be involved in hiring him? Leave all your comments below!

RSS

Digg

de.li.cious

facebook

LATEST FEATURES

Joel's gone, what now? Considering Safa hired Joel Santana in the first place, why would his replacement be any better?

CC Team of the Week After a weekend of thrilling Currie Cup action, our selectors reveal their penultimate pick.

The Premiership so far iafrica.com's Tim Human takes stock of the English Premiership season and looks ahead.