The council of couch critics must stand down

Mzansi’s football icon and one of the best to have juggled a soccer ball in the country, Jomo Sono, also weighed in on the attack on Pitso Mosimane, and condemnation that spread like wildfire after Bafana Bafana’s 2-1 win over Guinea last week.

You see, over the years, Sono was able to grow skin as thick as that of an elephant after taking a lot of criticism in his career. He recently opined that comparing himself and Patrick “Tito” Maswanganyi, was like making comparisons between an elephant and an ant. I am ending the elephant idioms and comparisons right here, before someone stomps on my behind.

“Mjomana” has seen it all in the game of billions. He was one of Orlando Pirates’ youngest stars; went on to play at the highest level, alongside Brazil legend Pele in the US.

He came back home to put a cherry on top of his career before launching his own club, Jomo Cosmos. After he circumnavigated his playing career, he established Cosmos as a massive conveyor belt of talent in Mzansi in the 1980s and early 1990s. He unearthed numerous Bafana Bafana stars and discovered a herd of foreign players from Africa.

For Bafana, it was the likes of Helman Mkhalele, Phil “Chippa” Masinga, Mark Fish, Pitso “Jingles” Mosimane, Edward “MaGents” Motale and Sizwe Motaung, to mention but a few.

From the back of beyond up in the continent, he discovered diamonds in the rough such as Mpangi Merikani, Tico-Tico Bucuane, Essau Kanyenda, Alois Bunjira, Benjamin Mwaruwaru, Anthony Laffor and polished them into superstars. He also coached at the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations and the Fifa 2002 World Cup, so he is not your fair-weather football expert.

This week, when Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane was being chewed alive by Mzansi’s irate and emotional supporters, mostly Pirates fans, “Mjomane” leapt to his defence and sarcastically told Kick-Off website that Bafana, with all its 60 million coaches, should easily qualify.

Mjomane was one of the few football fundis who kept their cool and did not allow emotions to get the better of them.

Mosimane faced severe criticism from fans and pundits after stating that in the national team, Bucs’ forward Oswin Appollis must change his game and adjust to accommodate left-back Aubrey Modiba, who plays for Mamelodi Sundowns. Explaining his tactical approach, Mosimane stated that Modiba must play the same way he does at
his club.

Mjomana jumped in wittingly in his interview: “As for the supporters, they have the right to praise and the right to criticise. The national team is not only coached by Mosimane but also by 60 million South Africans-through their strong opinions.

“All 60 million of them are coaches. They all know a lot about football and they are all good coaches, so with 60 million coaches South Africa will surely qualify,” Sono was quoted as saying.

With the advent of social media, every Jabu, Mpho and Sipho have a voice and platform not only to engage in a matured manner but also to swear and disrespect coaches and players. You have to feel sad when an esteemed coach who has won three CAF Champions League trophies is questioned by hot-air spewing, couch-potato louts and beer-guzzling boneheads who have not even coached at Under-12 or someone who has not even played soccer at a competitive level.

As a friend and former colleague mentioned this week, social media is giving vile people and cowards to feel brave brutalising people knowing they can get away with it.

Can we allow coaches and players some space to do their jobs without interference and swearing at them, already!