We are not looking for a coach –Kaizer
Motaung wants to strengthen defence instead
Kaizer Chiefs look set to go into a third season with coach Steve Komphela at the helm despite not winning any silverware for two consecutive seasons.
Komphela still has one full season to run on his contract, but he has to make sure he delivers if he entertains the thought of getting a contract extension.
Chiefs are currently in fifth place – the same position they finished in last season – due to their inconsistent performances.
“Contractually he has another season with us. We cannot just decide overnight that he should go. If we do that, then it means we are working against ourselves. If we had that in mind, then we should have started working towards that. Chopping and changing coaches can also hurt you badly,” said Chiefs chairman Kaizer Motaung yesterday.
“The season has been disappointing. We have not achieved what we wanted to achieve. We need to have a proper review of everything. Once we’ve done the review, we’ll see where things could have gone wrong and where we did not do what we should have done.”
Having recently conceded late goals in three consecutive matches, Motaung says they will look to strengthen the defence.
“We’ve been let down by defensive glitches in the end. It has not done us any good. We might be [strengthening that department] because you can see that the legs of some of the players are gone.”
Amakhosi yesterday announced a three-year sponsorship deal with medical aid company Medshield. It’s a deal of about R6-million a year.
“It’s worth between R5-million and R6-million, but the cash component is R3 million and the rest is going through their products the staff and players will derive from,” said Motaung.
Chiefs travel to Polokwane City tomorrow.
Under the tutelage of Stuart Baxter at Kaizer Chiefs, Tsepo Masilela enjoyed the feeling of winning trophies.
In total, Chiefs won four major titles during Baxter’s threeyear tenure, including two Absa Premiership titles.
Amakhosi will finish a second consecutive season without a trophy in the cabinet, but Masilela says these things happen in football because clubs usually dominate in cycles.
“At Chiefs expectations are high, and it simply means we have not met the expectations of the fans. This is a team that is used to winning one or two trophies a season. Some of us don’t have 10 more years left to play, so we’d love to win trophies before we retire,” said Masilela.
“It’s always nice when you win. When you get that taste, then you want it over and over again. But success comes in cycles in football. You’ll see a team dominating for three years and then the next three years it’s another team. We had to rebuild because we brought in a new coach [after Baxter left] and new players came in.”
Fifth-placed Chiefs, who face Polokwane City at Peter Mokaba Stadium tomorrow (6pm), are looking to finish the season on a high. They can still finish third and qualify for the CAF Confederation Cup.
It, however, won’t be easy against a City side looking to cement a place in the top eight for the first time in their history.
“Our start was not great, so we had to catch up. In most games, we were in the lead but we gave it away and we’ve had too many draws,” bemoaned Masilela.
Chiefs will be without suspended midfielder Willard Katsande, but Lucky Baloyi has done a fairly good job whenever he comes in for the Zimbabwean international.