In this edition of 'In the hotseat', former South African Under-20 coach Boebie Solomons shares his views with iafrica.com on the re-appointment of Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, whilst he also comments on SA's 2010 chances.

Speaking exclusively to iafrica.com's Khaya Ndubane, the current Santos coach tells us — amongst other things — why he thinks a local coach should have been appointed to lead Bafana in the World Cup, the retention of underfire skipper Aaron Mokoena and, of course, the Benni factor.

Q&A with Boebie Solomons!

Khaya Ndubane (KN): Boebie so much has been said — and written — about the reappointment of Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira. What is your take on this issue?

Boebie Solomons (BS): "Personally, I would have preferred a local coach to be in charge of Bafana in the 2010 World Cup, after all how much worse could a South African have done compared to the coaches we have had thus far? But, a decision has been made by Safa and we just have to be patriotic and support our team."

KN: Speaking about Bafana, how do you think they will fare in the 2010 World Cup?

BS: "I do not really have faith in Bafana right now for the obvious reasons, but that could change, remember we still have about eight months before the World Cup and anything can happen before that. But, the fact remains is that Bafana need to start winning before the World Cup otherwise people might not attend their matches; that would not be good for the host country."

KN: Parreira and his technical teams have been praised for including three Under-20 players in their squad for the Japan and Jamaica friendly. What's your view on the selection of these three players?

BS: "I'm happy that the technical team has finally realised that we need some continuity in the national team, but it a little bit too late considering that we are hosting a World Cup soon. We had good junior teams in the past, like the Under-23 squad that represented South Africa in the 2000 Olympics, but these junior players simply vanished in the system. We would not be where we are today if we had kept that team together, but it's no use crying over spilt milk."

KN: Calls have been made about the axing of captain Aaron Mokoena. What's your view on this?

BS: "Look, Aaron has not done well for the country for a long time now; I personally think that his displays for Bafana do not justify his inclusion in the squad. I don't know which criteria is being used to justify his inclusion, but if it's on merit; then I have a problem with that. We need a captain that will lead by example; someone who will give players hope when the chips are down and Aaron is not doing that right now."

KN: And what's your view on Benni McCarthy's recall?

BS: "Benni is a quality player, there is no doubt about that but there have been question marks about his fitness. I'm sure that Parreira wants to assess Benni to see if there is some firepower left in him. We just need to give him a chance to prove his worth and I'm sure that Benni will prove the sceptics wrong in the end."

KN: Looking at the current Bafana squad, which players do you consider unlucky to have missed out?

BS: "I believe that players like Franklin Cale, Erwin Isaacs, Nazeer Allie and Sameeg Doutie should have been included in the squad. Let me explain why, before I'm accused of favouring Cape Town players. I do think that the current Bafana squad has too similar players, hence they are not doing well; you need little bit of direct football players in order to achieve results and the players I mentioned can give you that option."

KN: Boebie, thanks for your time and good luck with Santos.

BS: "My pleasure Khaya and thanks for the good wishes."

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