South African Football Association (Safa) Raymond Hack said there are no plans to bring back former Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira as an advisor to his countryman Joel Santana who replaced him at the end of May as national head coach.

Speculation has been rife that the bumbling Santana's days are numbered after a less than three months in the hot seat.

However, Hack defended his R1.5 million a month coach after the Sunday Times in a front page story claimed Parreira is prepared to return to rescue Bafana.

“I keep in touch with Parreira, but neither myself nor any member of the Safa executive have negotiated with Parreira to return in any capacity to the national squad. It has never been discussed by Safa,” said Hack.

“I want to make it clear that we have no plans to ditch Santana after couple of months. He must get on with the job we employed him to do.”

Santana not covered in glory

Santana did not do his cause any good by taking a month holiday in Brazil after a dismal start to his international coaching career where Bafana managed only a win against lowly Equatorial Guinea (at home), a draw also at home over a weak Sierra Leone side and were beaten away by both Sierra Leone and Nigeria away in their four African Nations Cup qualifiers in June, which virtually ended Bafana's hopes of playing in the continental showpiece in Angola in 2010.

Santana disappointed with his conservative defensive tactics. His lack of international experience was glaring in the 0-0 draw against the Leone Stars at the Super Stadium where Bafana desperately needed to win to stand any chance or qualifying for Angola.

Santana who has never coached an international side, but was named by Parreira as his successor looks to be out of his depth. Rather than go to Brazil to sort out his personal issues, he would have been better off staying in South Africa getting familiar with the culture, the players and language of his new team.

Little to convince

Santana is in London with the Bafana squad where they play Australia in a friendly interternational at Loftus Road, the home of Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday night. The match is being used as a warm-up game ahead of the win or bust Afcon qualifier against Nigeria in Port Elizabeth on September 6.

Santana did little to convince local journalists he is the man for the big job of rebuilding Bafana into a competitive unit to play in the 2010 World Cup finals on home soil when he named his squad to play the Socceroos last week.

Santana refused to do one on one interviews with the media and was evasive.

Safa president Molefi Oliphant kept the door open in May when Parreira resigned saying that the former Brazilian World Cup winner could be recalled to the Bafana set-up in the future and an advisor if needed. If Bafana lose to Nigeria he will be needed.

Sapa