Why Komphela must deliver

SOME four years ago, when he was catapulted into the Bafana Bafana coaching post on a temporary basis, Steve Komphela – as is his wont – beautifully summed up what had just happened to find himself in charge.

The night before, he had been told in the corridors of the Royal Bafokeng Sports Complex he would replace Pitso Mosimane following Bafana’s 1-1 draw with Ethiopia.

Immediately, Komphela found himself addressing the media not as the technical adviser he had joined the Bafana camp as, but as caretaker coach heading into the second World Cup qualifier against Botswana.

“This is a revolving door,” Komphela said of the nature of coaching. “Here today, gone tomorrow. Entrance, exit. Hired, fired.”

Now finding himself facing immense pressure so early in the season in his second year as Kaizer Chiefs coach, Komphela may be looking at that “revolving door” with some trepidation.

Back-to-back defeats to Bidvest Wits and then Cape Town City last week have made his situation a bit precarious, though the support he received from the club’s management will have been a relief amid the barrage of criticism.

But that Kaizer and Bobby Motaung have come out to ease the pressure Komphela finds himself under – calling for calm amid growing anger among the fans – doesn’t mean the analogy of “entrance, exit” doesn’t apply to him.

Komphela needs to turn Amakhosi’s fortunes around to win over a host of supporters who are rapidly convincing themselves that a team of Chiefs’ stature is beyond his competence.

It is not entirely his fault that Chiefs have declined to the levels where they can’t win successive matches. As the late Ted Dumitru opined in one of his final interviews, the malaise in Naturena has set in over several years.

Chiefs’ recruitment policy has been haphazard, where they grabbed whoever the market was offering – in most cases on a free – and threw them into the team expecting miracles, while forgetting that transitioning from a smaller club to one with excessively demanding fans could be detrimental. Not even the most hateful of Komphela’s critics would blame this solely on him.

But while he may have been given leeway last season, it won’t be the same this time. He has been there for more than a year, and oversaw pre-season, departures and new signings. Ultimately, he will have to own up.

The international break has also come at a convenient time for Komphela to rectify whatever flaws his team has. Also, the MTN8 exit means Chiefs are only back in action in two weeks’ time – when they host Platinum Stars on September 14.

Any failure in that game would not only serve to heighten the pressure around Komphela, but would also fuel perceptions he’s ill-equipped to take charge of a team of Chiefs’ stature.

This would also be a huge setback for local coaches eager to make a step up, to prove that big teams can flourish under their guidance and, almost inevitably, convince the Motaungs that local is not so