Stuart Baxter has allegedly told the South African Football Association (Safa) that he will accept the Bafana Bafana coaching job on condition that his son is appointed as national team goalkeeper coach.
Insiders close to the negotiations told Times Media Digital that the Briton has agreed personal terms of a salary believed to be in the region of R1 million a month for his second stint with the senior national team.
But his acceptance of the job is believed to be on condition that his son‚ Lee‚ becomes the national team goalkeeper coach.
The insiders also revealed that South African Football Association (Safa) officials were initially reluctant to accede to Baxter's demand of working with his son for fear of public condemnation.
But it seems they have given in to the stipulation as Baxter is set to be announced as new Bafana coach this week.
Safa have struggled to pin down a coach since the beginning of the year and attempts to secure Mozambique-born Carlos Queiroz‚ Frenchman Hervé Renard and Belgian Hugo Broos all failed.
The failure to find a replacement four months after Ephraim "Shakes" Mashaba's sacking has put Safa under tremendous pressure from the public and this has seemingly swung the pendulum in Baxter's favour.
Safa’s reluctance is believed to stem from the fact that Lee Baxter does not have a proven track record of working at national team level where the stakes are a lot higher.
Goalkeeper coaching is a highly specialised field and Safa’s worry was based on the kind of impact he could have on the experienced keepers in the national team‚ especially Bafana No1 Itumeleng Khune and Darren Keet.
Baxter junior spent time at SuperSport United as goalkeeper coach last season and he also worked with his father in the same capacity at AIK in Sweden and at Genclerbirligi in Turkey.
SuperSport United fitness trainer Joshua Smith will also join the national team.
The Briton arrived with Smith at the club in the beginning of last year when he took over the coaching reins from Gordon Igesund.
The new Bafana Bafana coach is expected to be announced on Monday or Tuesday.
Safa’s communications head Dominic Chimhavi did not respond to text messages requesting comment on the matter on Sunday.
Baxter's agent Steve Kapulschnik was also not available for comment on Sunday. - TMG Digital/TMG Spor
