TNT Sports
Baxter resigns
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Published 15/11/2005 at 16:46 GMT
Stuart Baxter quit as South Africa coach on Tuesday after a run of nine matches without a win, the South African Football Association said. The Englishman's resignation came eight months short of the end of his contract and two months before the African N
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He had been expected to take his team to the tournament in January but it was thought unlikely he would be offered a contract extension after failing to lead South Africa to next year's World Cup.
Baxter, 52, had speculated about his future recently after less than two years in the job, demanding the removal of several football association staff members whom he accused of undermining his work.
"I had hoped to leave a legacy," Baxter said on Tuesday.
"But the issues I had been getting more and more concerned about were not being resolved.
"I tried to do my job and I tried to impart something but the environment I found myself in was difficult. I was strangled by weeds whose sole purpose was to stop the flowers from blooming," he said in a reference to the administrative problems that plagued his tenure.
"The players at times have not given their best because of this," Baxter added.
South Africa collapsed in the final stages of their World Cup qualifying campaign, throwing away a three-point lead with three matches to play to finish third in the group.
Baxter was hired in April 2004 to gel together a disparate group of players.
He initially had success in persuading leading players, like Porto striker Benni McCarthy and Manchester United midfielder Quinton Fortune, to return to play for their country, but failed to secure their continued commitment.
South Africa's failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany was a major embarrassment for the country who will host the 2010 tournament.
South African Football Association officials will meet on Wednesday to discuss a successor before the Nations Cup starts on Jan. 20.
"We hope to have a replacement by the weekend," general secretary Raymond Hack said.
South Africa, re-admitted to world football in 1992, have employed 11 coaches in 13 years of international competition.
They fired Carlos Queiroz shortly before the 2002 World Cup and Clive Barker six months before going to the 1998 tournament in France.
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