Bafana Bafana head coach Pitso Mosimane has weighed in on Oswin Appollis’s reduced game-time at Orlando Pirates.
The right-footed winger has missed out on several starting lineups recently, with Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou stating the club is managing his workload ahead of crucial upcoming fixtures.
However, Mosimane made it clear that fatigue management is not his concern at national level.
He noted that Bafana only play a handful of matches every few months—and insisting Appollis is a player he feels compelled to use.
“We play once, right? So fatigue is not for me to manage it. Right? For me it’s to choose the best player who’s around and who’s available, okay?,” said Mosimane.
“So I don’t over-train my team. I just say who’s available and is good for the country, I use that player. So, I hear that you are a lot in press conferences, but to be honest, I don’t listen.
“I have to look at what I have because now if I start listening to anybody and everybody, my decisions and my way of thinking will be swayed.
“If I read what you write, I’ll be in trouble, right? Because you can write what you want to write. I must respect your opinion.
“But if that opinion starts to go into my mind and it affects the choice of players I must make, I might not as well be here because you write your opinion. Right?
“So who do I listen to? Because another person has got his own [opinion about] other people that he thinks should be there. So who should I listen to? So then I’m the coach, right? And you [journalists] do the writing. And you must have the followers in your team.
“It’s a good question, there’s nothing wrong with it. You make your business, you make your money. My business is to win here. [But for you] is to increase numbers, then those are right questions. And if you don’t ask that, I’m surprised. Then you’re not a journalist.”