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Steve Haag Gallo Images<\/p>\n
Sharks chief executive John Smit is dealing with the fallout of his decision to axe John Plumtree. Picture: Steve Haag\/Gallo Images<\/p>\n
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Related Stories<\/p>\n
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Durban \u2013 The fickleness of Sharks rugby fans has emerged as they have turned on their former blue-eyed boy John Smit, calling him a \u201cback stabber\u201d for axing coach John Plumtree \u2013 and that was one of the more polite references. <\/p>\n
On the Sharks\u2019 Facebook page some predicted that Smit, new Sharks chief executive, would be the \u201cdeath of Sharks\u2019 rugby\u201d while others called for the former Springbok captain to be booed at Saturday\u2019s game. <\/p>\n
The Smit-Plumtree saga is the latest controversy to plague the Sharks after the murder of a British national at the stadium, and later an uproar over liquor licences and illegal drinking. <\/p>\n
The comments came as Smit was given the Ingwazi Award for his role in the upliftment and promotion of KwaZulu-Natal. <\/p>\n
He declined to comment on the Plumtree issue, but said he was pleased to see the public taking an interest in the issue. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows they are passionate. That passion makes our jobs possible and I would not want to take it away,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Smit said he had previously encountered his fair share of criticism and that he had developed a thick skin. \u201cWhen you take up a position like chief executive you know you are going to be held accountable for your decisions.\u201d <\/p>\n
Nevertheless, <\/p>\n
the imminent departure of Plumtree from the Sharks has not been taken well by many fans who said the coach had been treated disrespectfully. <\/p>\n
Responding to the Sharks\u2019 statement on their Facebook page announcing the news, supporter Shaun Baird said it was sad to see a stalwart go. <\/p>\n
\u201cPlumtree was black and white through and through. He bled black and white. Hope we find someone with half the passion he had for the Sharks. All the best boet.\u201d <\/p>\n
Even fans who agreed that a new coach was needed did not approve of the way it was done, calling it \u201cmessy\u201d and \u201cunprofessional\u201d. <\/p>\n
Brendin Pillay said while it was understandable that many fans wanted Plumtree to leave after a dismal season, it was difficult for any coach to lead a team that had so many of its first-choice players out injured. The way Plumtree was axed was \u201cdisgraceful\u201d. <\/p>\n
Some supporters were less tactful, calling Smit names too rude for publication. <\/p>\n
\u201cJohn Smit is a back-stabber and should get booed on Saturday if he has the balls to come on the field,\u201d said Donovan Dales. Pieter and Ronel Conradie added that anyone who wanted loyalty should rather buy a dog. <\/p>\n
Nakampe Mampeule, cited a \u201cpersonal vendetta\u201d. In response to an announcement that assistant coaches Grant Bashford and Hugh Reece-Edwards would assume the coaching duties for the remaining three Super 15 Rugby matches, some supporters felt that if Plumtree was fired then they should be too. <\/p>\n
But many diehard fans are desperate for all the \u201cpolitics\u201d to be put aside so the Sharks can try to regain some pride on the field. <\/p>\n
George Laas, the chairman of the Sharks Supporters\u2019 Club, said the team and supporters should forget about what was happening off the field. He believed the players would take to the field on Saturday and \u201cdo it for Plum\u201d. He said the team would be supported through thick and thin because \u201cwe are Natalians, we are the Sharks\u201d. <\/p>\n
Some supporters did, however, applaud Smit\u2019s \u201cclean slate\u201d decision to bring in a new coach and called on others to give him a chance before judging his performance as the new chief executive. <\/p>\n
l At the awards ceremony in uMhlanga, where Smit was the guest of honour last night, he said it was \u201chumbling\u201d to be recognised for his role in promoting the province. <\/p>\n
The Land of Legends Association, which bestows the Ingwazi Award, is made up of seven top boutique hotels. Previous recipients have included conservationists Ian Player and Lawrence Anthony and Premier Zweli Mkhize. \u2013 The Mercury <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Steve Haag Gallo Images Sharks chief executive John Smit is dealing with the fallout of his decision to axe John Plumtree. Picture: Steve Haag\/Gallo Images Related Stories Plum’s sacking ‘will help development’ I\u2019m not the villain, says Mallett Smit\u2019s baptism of fire as CEO Changes at Sharks must pay off Smit axes Plumtree as coach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[8275,953,2143],"class_list":{"0":"post-20740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-durban","8":"tag-newspaper","9":"tag-the-mercury","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20740\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}