Stuart Baxter has allegedly told the South African Football Association (Safa) that he will accept the Bafana Bafana coaching job on condition his son is appointed as national team goalkeeper coach.

---

 

Insiders close to the negotiations confirmed  that the Briton has agreed personal terms of a salary believed to be in the region of R1m a month for his second stint with Bafana. But his acceptance of the job is believed to be on condition that his son‚ Lee‚ becomes the goalkeeper coach.

The insiders also revealed that Safa officials were initially reluctant to accede to Baxter’s demand of working with his son for fear of public condemnation.

But it seems they have given in to the stipulation as Baxter is set to be announced as the new Bafana coach this week.

Safa have struggled to pin down a coach since the beginning of the year and attempts to secure Mozambique-born Carlos Queiroz‚ Frenchman Hervé Renard and Belgian Hugo Broos all failed. The failure to find a replacement four months after Ephraim "Shakes" Mashaba’s sacking has put Safa under tremendous pressure from the public and this has seemingly swung the pendulum in Baxter’s favor.

Safa’s reluctance is believed to stem from the fact that Lee Baxter does not have a proven track record of working at national team level. Goalkeeper coaching is a highly specialized field and Safa’s worry was based on the impact he could have on the keepers in the national team‚ especially Bafana No1 Itumeleng Khune and Darren Keet. Baxter junior spent time at Super Sport United as goalkeeper coach last season and he also worked with his father in the same capacity at AIK in Sweden and at Genclerbirligi in Turkey.

 

Report by Miyen Akiri