CLIVE Barker believes new Bafana Bafana coach Ephraim "Shakes" Mashaba has the personality to get the best out of the team.

Mpumalanga Black Aces coach Barker, the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations-winning Bafana boss, believes Mashaba might be the right man to inject young blood into a team that has failed to qualify for a major competition since the 2008 Afcon finals in Ghana.

"I'm delighted for his selection because I always thought it should be a South African. I think he's got a certain way of working with young players," Barker said yesterday.

"He's proved that in the Benni McCarthy, Quinton Fortune era where the SA Under-23s beat Brazil at the 2000 Olympics.

"People say to me, 'What has he done, what has he won?' I say I remember when he had Vaal Reefs and they were a very ordinary team, and he made them perform and kept them surviving. I always thought to myself then, Shakes Mashaba, Peter Nyama, those types of coaches have got something. I have no doubt he will deliver."

Barker said there needs to be an end to the rivalries and self-interest that have seen clubs too often refuse to release players for national duty.

"It's nonsense. It has to be the pinnacle of your career to want to play for Bafana. When I had the team everybody wanted to play," the coach said.

"If you left a player out he was distraught. That's exactly the culture Shakes must instill, and the players also have to respond.

Barker believes Mashaba, who has lost just twice in 19 matches in various stints with Bafana, could be the right coach to rebuild from the generation of the 2009 Confederations Cup and 2010 World Cup.

"Let's just go with a player who's got a bit of flair," Barker said. "And then work them in with those players with a European influence ..."