Time to alter Bafana's game plan, and stick to it

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the ultimate definition of insanity.

We have criticised Stuart Baxter, and deservedly so, for the embarrassment he caused the fans in particular and the nation in general.

Unlike coaching a club, coaching a national team is no pap and vleis, and there are no second chances. You either deliver or die.

Ask German legend Jurgen Klinsmann, who last year dined with US president at the time Barack Obama at a gala dinner in Berlin on a Thursday, returned to his California home on the Friday and was fired on Monday as America's national soccer team coach.

The US fans were not amused but bemused by his dismal performance, which had damaged his team's chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

For the past 15 years sending Bafana Bafana to qualify for the Fifa World Cup has been like combing a donkey to look like a horse and expecting it to win the Durban July.

Since 2002, when we last qualified for the global showpiece on merit, Bafana Bafana have not been able to kick a hole in a wet paper bag.

The bigwigs at Safa House should shoulder some, if not all of the blame, for the sorry state of affairs in our national team.

Previous coaches and soccer critics have continually pointed at the lack of proper development structures and plans as the main contributing factor.

Others have claimed that too much internal politics is the elephant in the room.

Rome was not built in a day.

Therefore, we should start focusing on building the foundation, instead of trying to chase microwavable success. It has not worked in 15 years, and it won't work in the foreseeable future. There is nothing wrong with working on a 10- or 15-year plan, but we have to stick to it and see it through.