Shakes blames the media #ShakesMustFall movement

In the midst of Wednesday’s night mind-numbing failure against Cameroon at the Moses Mabhida Stadium‚ it would be easy to say Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba is on unstable ground.

If plausible reasons for Bafana’s regression since last year’s continental showpiece could be given‚ this debate would not be taking place.

While Mashaba seems to be social media-savvy‚ with his knowledge of the must-fall hashtag‚ it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one with his name will surface soon.

When you have only four wins from your last 12 matches‚ a trend is likely to pick up. This is not of the media’s making. Football fans can see through the smoke and mirrors.

At some point‚ Mashaba needs to understand he can’t control the message nor the messenger. The #ShakesMustFall movement will gather strength if he is allowed to continue.

If positive results are not collected against Mauritania and Gambia‚ it’s clear what the movement will morph into.

Then there he had the nerve to tell journalists not to ask rehearsed questions.

“I’ve got kids and grandkids. Imagine if they listen to the nonsense of me being in hashtags and things like #ShakesMustFall. They’ll read about those things and ask what’s wrong with our grandfather and this will be spoken about somewhere‚” Mashaba quipped.

“What annoys me is that people don’t come to press conferences but you hear clips being played in those stations. People formulate questions out of those things.

“Even if you decorate‚ you must ask a question. Don’t just rely on clips. Ask your questions yourself.”

This was part of a response to a question about Kamohelo Mokotjo and why he doesn’t start‚ but where the social media part fitted in was anyone’s guess.

His response to why Thamsanqa “Anonymous” Gabuza got a start ahead of sharpshooters Ndumiso Mabena and Prince Nxumalo was shrouded behind “planning”.

Tactical inflexibility‚ not-so-covert favouritism and an inability to respond to pressure would have been better answers.

While his dignity as a human being will always be respected‚ what his grandchildren think about seeing him trend should be the last thing on his mind.

Then again‚ he did once bring his own son Jabu to a press conference to ask rehearsed questions unrelated to football.

If only such obfuscation could be applied to bamboozle opponents on the field.

As the coaching custodian of the national team‚ the onus should be on finding solutions to avoid an inexplicably soulless display in what was South Africa’s most crucial game in three years.

Granted‚ football coaching has complexities that make Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity a basic concept.

Blaming the Premier Soccer League and directing questions about haphazard development to the office of the technical director is an unacceptable abdication of responsibility.

Unless the South African Football Association has conceived a different selection method‚ Mashaba picks his own teams. #ShakesMustFall could evolve into #ShakesMustGo if real football matters are not attended to. After all‚ it’s the fans who coin the terms‚ not the media.