Tshabalala disappointed, but keen to get over it

KAIZER Chiefs midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala has seen it all in South African football. That is the benefit of having played 300-plus games.

Still, last season was a period like no other when Chiefs suddenly became cup final bridesmaids. That simply does not happen to the Glamour Boys.

Losing one cup final in a season is acceptable but it went against Chiefs’ habit of harvesting such competitions — it is the title way or no way.

Stuart Baxter’s colourless but cupfilled three-year tenure made life difficult for Steve Komphela last season.

Chiefs surrendered cup finals to Ajax Cape Town (MTN8) and Mamelodi Sundowns (Telkom Knockout) before their embarrassing Nedbank Cup firstround exit to rivals Orlando Pirates.

Friday evening’s MTN8 quarterfinal clash against Cape Town City at the Cape Town Stadium is the start of what will be a pressure-filled 2016-17 season but Tshabalala hopes for redemption.

“Every season is a pressure season at Kaizer Chiefs because people want results and they also want to see good football. People also want to see the team doing well and bringing in more trophies. It’s only fair for them to have high expectations and we understand and appreciate that. It makes us work harder as a team,” Tshabalala said.

“Last season . . . we hoped for the best but nothing in that regard happened. We were all disappointed and it’s only fair to say we didn’t do well.

“It wasn’t easy to deal with the disappointments because the expectations were high, we set ourselves high standards and we didn’t deliver.”

It wasn’t easy . . . We set ourselves high standards and we didn’t deliver

Unlike Mamelodi Sundowns, Chiefs have only once in eight seasons failed to get past the MTN8 quarterfinal stage.

It was Sundowns who stopped them in their tracks with a 4-1 hammering in 2012 at Loftus Versfeld.

Sundowns will be hosting SuperSport United at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday aiming to get into the semifinals for the first time in three seasons.

Saturday’s fare will also see Chippa United making the journey to Phokeng to face Platinum Stars while Bidvest Wits and Pirates duel at the Bidvest Stadium later in the evening.

Chiefs may seem to have the easier draw but Cape Town City are an unknown quantity even though their coach Eric Tinkler struggled against Chiefs while he was Pirates coach.

Tshabalala will be watching from the sidelines because of injury but he only wants to think about what his teammates can achieve and getting over last season’s disappointments.

“You don’t lose hope. There’s also another time and there’s always another chance to carry on with your journey. Everyone has a role to play, everyone wants to win trophies and everyone wants to compete for a place in the team. When we do that as a collective, there’s a lot we can achieve as a team,” Tshabalala said.