New Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira rolls up his sleeves on Monday when his mission to rekindle the country's fortunes on the world football map kicks off in earnest.

New Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira rolls up his sleeves on Monday when his mission to rekindle the country's fortunes on the world football map kicks off in earnest.

A squad of 23 tried-and- tested players will assemble in Johannesburg for a camp aimed at building a world- beating side.

Given the pathetic condition South Africa's senior squad is in, it would have been ideal for Parreira to have started his job at least three years ago.

Hopefully his employers, the South African Football Association, will realise this and give the man all the support he needs to make up for lost time as we near the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament in Ghana next year and our hosting of the 2010 World Cup.

Also, disillusioned fans have turned their backs on the once beloved Bafana.

Parreira will have to work on winning them back over in the time he has been allotted.

In this regard, Safa needs to immediately remove some of the senseless restrictions it has imposed on the media regarding reporting and selling Bafana Bafana to the fans.

For example, it does nobody any good that Parreira has been off limits to the media since he arrived last Friday. This is unlikely to endear him to the Fourth Estate and will cause ill-feeling towards him, something the embattled Safa hardly needs.