Bafana Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele has listed similarities between current national head coach Hugo Broos and the late Clive Barker.
Mkhalele has worked with both men, first with Barker as a player when Bafana won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1996 and is currently Broos’ protégé.
‘The Dog’ previously held the record of being the longest serving Bafana coach with three years under his belt, a record that the Belgian has usurped with his record reading three years and 10 months.
‘Midnight Express’ told iDiski Times senior writer Matshelane Mamabolo in edition 198 of the newspaper that among the many similarities, they are/were good in making players believe in themselves.
“There are a lot of similarities between Hugo and the late Clive,” Mkhalele told iDiski Times.
“Both of them are excellent at man management – they have a way of getting players to believe in themselves and their capabilities. Coach Clive had a very good relationship with us, not with just friendly good management skills, but he also made us understand why we are in the national team – that we were there to work. He made sure we knew what we needed to do and allowed us to operate freely and willingly, not forced or being policed.
The former Orlando Pirates winger went on to say that the other strength the coaches share is the confidence in their plans and trust in their players.
“Coach Hugo knows what he wants and what he can get out of his players. He is not complicated in his plans and merely gives the players guidelines to operate within. He allows the players to use their own discretion and allows them to think for themselves while making sure they follow the plan. He allows the players to be themselves.
“One of his strengths, and he’s more like Clive in that way, is his ability to handle players, to give them the confidence that they are the best. And because his principles are clear, the players find it easier to execute them and also no one wants to disappoint such a coach who shows so much faith and belief in you like I am seeing Hugo do with these players, just like Clive did with us.”
