FORMER Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter is “still open to opportunities” of coaching in Mzansi again.
This despite sending shock waves through the local football fraternity when he resigned last year.
The Briton is currently out of the country, and jobless. He resides in Sweden, in Northern Europe, with his family.
According to his agent Steve Kapeluschnik, Baxter has attracted the attention of many clubs in the world.
“Baxter loves South Africa and that door remains open, if the timing and project is right,” added Kapeluschik.
“He is is at home, but he has had some offers internationally. But because of the Coronavirus pandemic, like everyone else, he’s home with his family and everything is on hold,” said Kapeluschnik.
Baxter’s previous job was head coach of the South African national football team, but he stepped down after Bafana were sent packing by Nigeria, suffering a 2-1 defeat in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) quarter-finals in Egypt.
Baxter had been on the job for three years and had until 2022 before his contract was set to expire.
He was replaced by Molefi Ntseki, who was his assistant at the Afcon.
Despite beating host nation Egypt in the last-16 round of the biennial tournament at a packed Cairo International Stadium, Baxter was still not everyone’s cup of tea, based on his tactics and team selection.
He had initially had left out 2018/2019 PSL Footballer of the Year Thembinkosi Lorch, who in turn scored the winning goal against the hosts, drawing further criticism from the Mzansi soccer fraternity.
The former coach also didn’t own up to the national team’s dismal performance.
He didn’t hold back in his technical report.
In his 16-page report, he lambasted the South African Football Association officials in fancy suits for causing players to miss training sessions, adding that the build-up to the tournament was the most chaotic he’d ever experienced.
Despite being a divisive figure in his second stint with the national team, he’s one of the most successful coaches when it comes to club level in the PSL.
He won four trophies with with Kaizer Chiefs (two league titles), Nedbank Cup and the MTN8).
The 66-year-old added two more Ke Yona Cup trophies with SuperSport United before Safa came calling to offer him another shot at international level.
Currently, Baxter’s son Lee Baxter is a goalkeeper coach at Chiefs.
