It is no secret that Young Bafana head coach, Bradley Barnes, is finding the going rather tough as the new mentor of the defending ABC Motsepe League champion.
Needless to say, it was always going to be a tall order for the former team manager to fill the boots of the league-winning coach Ashraf Calvert who was released from his position after winning the club’s debut league title last season.
Barnes has since his appointment in December only won one of his three games in charge when they beat Royal Blues 3-2 with the resumption of the league in January after the Festive break.
This result was followed by three consecutive defeats against Ikapa Sporting (1-2), Hanover Park (1-3) and FN Rangers (0-2) which leaves them in a very precarious position – seventh on log with three points from seven games.
Despite this ominous showing, it is expected that the Strand-based outfit will be able to retain their Motsepe status for next season as Batalions FC (0 points in Stream B) and Blues (1 point) and Ukhanya United (3 points) – both stream A – are faring even worse than the champions looks like relegation candidates in their respective group.
Given Bafana’s woes, its founder Bernardo Steinado need not be reminded that his club is a mere shadow of themselves.
It will be interesting to see for how long Steinado will persist with Barnes as another defeat will make it zero points from 16 matches which in this day and age is rather pathetic. Barnes and his troops make the trip to Ocean View to face Ubuntu FC next up who is one position above them with seven points from their seven matches.
One cannot see how Bafana with its current squad will be able to down Ubuntu in their backyard which begs the question: could this be Barnes’ last fixture? How long Steinado’s patience holds out remains to be seen as Bafana under Barnes keeps staring down the barrel of the gun.
