A coach who can't shut his trap....

His name is Henri Michel, a Frenchman who previously coached his native country, Morocco and Cameroon - now with South African "giants" Mamelodi Sundowns.

Michel joined Sundowns in November last year after a string of poor results while Trott Moloto was in charge. Club boss Patrice Motsepe waisted no time in making sure he acquires "one of the best coaches" around to lead his investment back into winning ways. So far, not so good. He has been in charge of seven games and has amassed only two wins, one draw four defeats. During that time he has managed to so brilliatly insult his players - calling them all sorts of names.

First he said they did not know the basics of football then not once but twice he said.....wait for it.....with his French accent, how do you say: THE PLAYERS ARE AVERAGE...Sundowns is the most expensively assembled squad in the country and its players are by no means average. Congratulations Mr. Michel - you just got yourself FIRED....!!!

Farewell to Parker

Probably one of the best young talents in our country as far as strikers are concerned. Bernard Parker is indeed a goal ace. And he has proved this by bagging 10 goals in 15 games early on in the season.

He futher complimented his club performance by delivering the goods for the national team as well. For some odd weird reason - coach Joel Santana still put him on the bench and used him as a "super-sub"....something that still bogles my mind. Now the 23 year-old striker has signed a deal with Serbian club Red Star Belgrade and leaves our shores sometime this week...Is it the right move?Will he still be a formidable force in the Bafana line up?Will he not just pay homage to the thorny issue that SA players fade out once they move to Europe?

I have complete faith and trust in Parker's ability and think despite leaving the Absa Premiership too early - he will still be one hell of a player..!! SO, there you have it....GOOD LUCK Mr. "Goals"....on your new adventure in Serbia.....hope to see you at the Confederations Cup..!!

His agents have defended the move saying: "Just because people (South Africans) are not exposed to leagues from Serbia and other countries besides the English Premiership and Spanish La Liga, does not mean those leagues are not good"....Mike Makaab also said Parker "will be a better player."

What do you think?

Sunday Times and The Times photographers at it again!

True art: http://multimedia.thetimes.co.za/photos/2008/08/fuji-photo-award-winners/ and http://multimedia.thetimes.co.za/photos/2008/08/living-inside-a-bridge/

A MEDAL AT LAST

Well done Khotso you have done us proud. Mokoena jumped 8.24 (his personal best) in the men's long jump finals on Monday to claim the first medal for the South African team in Beijing..

The boy has proven what he is capable of and needs to be given more opportunity to shine..VIVA Khotso VIVA...

I'm officially a fan..!

I can now say I'm officially a fan...For the first time in my entire life I went to the Amakhosi Village (Naturena). I saw the boys hard at work today (Thursday) ahead of their Vodacom Challenge game against Man United.."they are going to trash those English boys"...!!

I grew supporting the mighty Amakhosi but had only seen most of them on TV and at some games I had gone to...but this...is totally awesome for me as I got to rub shoulders with "guys that frustrate me when they loose"....!! WOW..the joy's of being a sports journalist...

Phone Booth

The next edition of phone booth has started yet again...Photographer, Moeketsie Moticoe brings to life some of the hidden and already famous talent in Mzantsi. Check it out for yourself.
http://multimedia.thetimes.co.za/photos/2008/07/the-dirty-skirts/ (dirty skirts)

Will I be one of these?

I'm moving to the sports sections of The Times as of Monday 14th July..and day and night I keep thinking to myself..."Will I be like one of these"? Now these men have built a name for themselves in the sports (soccer) fraternity and they are well respected for their knowledge of the business...

I'm talking about Mninawa Ntloko and Bareng-Batho Kortjaas. Ntloko wrote for The Times but was later recruited back by Business Day and BBK is currently with the Sunday Times and does the Metro FM sports show...Clearly these men have built a name for themselves, no doubt about that. I'm a bit nervous and excited at the same time...Is passion enough for this or I need more than just passion,determination and hard-work?

Whatch this space...I resume my duties on the 14th July.!

What do they do?

I recently asked you (my readers) what the ANC Youth League do? So this time around..questions aside, I'm going to reveal what these guys actually do..Or claim to do...

What is it?
-ANCYL is the youth wing of the ANC which, was established in 1944 to rally behind the aims and objectives of the ANC and further the interest of young people within the ANC and outside the ANC.

What does it seek to do?
-It seeks to rally the youth of our country to support and unite behind the vision of the ANC and the mobilisation of Youth behind the banner and vision of the creation of a non-racial, non-sexiest, democratic and prosperous society. Basically they champion the interests of the young people.

Why you should join ANCYL?
-Every young person can join the ANCYL voluntarily, without any expectations of material gain, in order to contribute to the youth and community. ALL ANCYL members shall strive to excel in all spheres of development.

How to join?
-Find a comrade in your area and ask them how to start "mobilizing" and being part of the massess.

PS: so do you agree that this is what they are doing?Have your say (Comment)!!

Your xenophobic displacement in 1minute..

President Thabo Mbeki has described the xenophobic attacks as a Disgrace to SA..the plight of the after effects of the attacks it still very visible as thousands of foreigners are packing up their bags to go home..
See the heart-warming pics by The Times photographers

South African Horror..I tell you..!

I have never feared death so much in my life since violent attacks by the cops at Wits University. I was in Alexandra - north of Johannesburg during the intense Xenophobic attacks and I saw a dead body and two severely beaten up people with blood streaming down their faces..It was good for my career as a journalist but tell you what: "I ALMOST PEED IN MY PANTS"..I'm not fooling around that was not good to see. Our country is in a crisis as much as we laugh at other countries when crap like that is happening in thier country..look at us now!!

A Malawian, and thousands of Zim residents will be sleeping in run down buildings or no where at all this week as they were forcefully removed from their dwelling places..! The residents said the government were not doing anything about the situation so they were taking matter into their own hands..! What the Hell..South African's come on now..!!!
Check out my story on the front page of The Times on these Xenophobic attacks..! and the video on the attacks by my big bully friend who protected me

Farewell Mr. Parreira..!

I'm sure alot of us have been asking ourselves "Where is our soccer headed"?This, after our national coach Mr. Parreira left us to go home as his wife Leila is sick and he needs to be with her.

Trust me I'm a sensitive guy who understands family and heart issues..but im just wondering, If The Coach earned 1.8m a month..why couldn't he bring his whole family here and live comfortably while still implementing his plans for 2010?

He has had a heart to heart interview with the Sunday Times telling them why he is leaving SA for Brazil and how he might come back to be the Technical adviser of Bafana Bafana..He has also left us in the "capable" hands of Joel Santan..Joel who?Yeah..i know..!!I personally think, Jomo Sono would have been our best bet because he know the culture and the players have respect for him..then again what do i know..Im a Journalist not a soccer coach..!

The Corporate World…

A couple of people would not necessarily agree with me in this particular piece of writing…I am really referring to those who are in the corporate world. Not all of them who just started working in these big companies. I am talking about your Trainee Engineers (at McKinsey), Accountants (KPMG and PWC), Economists (at ABSA and Standard Bank) and so forth. Some of these newbies are so ignorant and I have no idea why!

Let me explain: A certain Engineer I know mentioned to me the other day that he did not read newspapers unless he has to and is looking for something that would relate to him. These are his exact words and I quote: “You guys (journalists) write crap and I don’t have time to read all of that”. I just literally laughed it off because I was amazed by his ignorance of what is going on around the world. I believe he has been entangled in all these corporate jargons and way of looking at things. BUSINESS AND MONEY MAKING that’s it. There is a need to revolutionize the thinking of our future tycoons. One might argue that the current businessman/woman of this country were part of the struggle and some went into exile therefore know more about our history and the humanitarian aspect of our country.

I am in no way saying that these newbies do not have any humanitarian bone in them but they are so concerned about the next big “FIX”…which is how to keep the Benjamin (money) flowing. Once again don’t get me wrong. I would also like to have more money in my pocket as time goes on but I never want to be clueless about the state in which our country is in. Even if our country is not in a state…I would always want to know how the latest government projects are being put in place, how the ordinary layman on the street is surviving. Let’s face it; there will always be a gap between the rich and the poor all around the world (it would be nice to have everyone be wealthy). SO I am calling our young entrepreneurs to “Please make a decision to know more about our country because they are…our future”.

Crazy inflation rate...

Indeed its a crazy inflation rate and loads of other crap to follow like the 53% price hike by our beloved Eskom..This is surely going to hit the poor the hardest. And that leads me to wonder..does anyone ever consider what the poor people go through, or journalists just keep writing about it and thier writting falls on deaf ears??

First of all, most of them probably keep wondering why the paraffin price and bread price keeps going up (let's face it, most of the poor people might be subjected to the crap that is produced by the Daily Sun). The social grants are not even covering all of their needs because, truth be told, it is not a real increase when Finance Minister gives his budget speech in February every year..!

Again..is Eishkom (Eskom) crazy..53%??Do they have any idea how the poor are going to be affected?Come on..They should rather use those fat bonuses that they got recently to subsidize the poor people in our country!DO THEY WANT OUR COUNTRY DO BE IN DEEP BULLDUST??You might be thinking.."Well, our country still has the cheapest electricity in the world". My answer to that is SO WHAT?just because our country has cheap electricity does not give the Eishkom authorities the right to lead our country into severe poverty..I say severe because..those already earning peanuts at work and were previously not disadvantage WILL NOW BE..!!

Grumpy bus drivers

What is it with bus drivers and mood swings? It is not really a generalization of bus drivers but mostly Metro bus drivers. Is it because they do not get paid enough? Is it because they meet different people from all walks of life and are therefore easily irritable as a result of conversing with weird and demanding commuters?

Yesterday, I was in my normal bus from Sunning-Hill to Naturena via Auckland Park when the bus driver stopped just a couple of kilometers away from Kirlaney mall. People got on the bus and just before the bus driver was about to take off, an old white man with a walking stick was approaching the bus very slowly [he obviously could not run as a result of his old age]. I am embarrassed, on behalf of the bus driver to say this, but he left the old man behind with clear intensions. I only started using the Metro bus this year and I was under the impression that this particular bus driver was moody/grumpy and arrogant. Unfortunately he is not the only one, but rather there are many more like him in the Metro bus industry. Sometimes I tend to think they are worse than taxi (specifically Zulu) drivers.

My apologies go out to the old white man who was trying to get home but was left behind by the merciless taxi driver. Perhaps Charles Hlebela, marketing and business development manager for Metro Bus, should put in a good word for these drivers. Or maybe the City of Johannesburg should consider some costumer service course for the Metro bus drivers.

What do you think??

Check out my stories!!

This is a once in a lifetime exclusive..to checkout my stories..with the links and all!!
I was going to post the links for you but stories are not just used by their newspapers. But instead, COSATU for example will also publish the story. So just google Mazola Molefe and the stories will pop-up..Thanx for your support, especially you Freckles.!