Coach refuses to give up race

Komphela remains defiant and hopeful after demoralising crash against Pirates

AMID hushed suggestions he could be the next man to be axed after the demoralising 3-1 rout by Orlando Pirates in the Soweto derby at the weekend‚ Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela maintained a defiant stand.

He refused to throw in the towel in the race to win the Absa Premiership title after Saturday’s big loss.

With two other PSL coaches – Eric Tinkler at SuperSport United and Teboho Moloi at Chippa United – having lost their jobs on Friday and Saturday respectively due to their teams’ poor performances‚ Komphela was asked questions about his future at Kaizer Chiefs, after the humiliating defeat against Pirates.

“Football is about pressure‚ always‚” Komphela said before giving a long sermon-like response which would have impressed a pastor.

With the loss to Pirates – a second for Komphela in six league meetings against Bucs – Amakhosi lost momentum in their pursuit of leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who are now eight points clear of them, with seven league matches to go.

But Komphela‚ whose team moved down to fifth place on the log from third‚ insisted that his goalshy impis still had a mathematical chance in the title race.

“Seven by three is 21‚” is what the coach said in the defiant stand.

“With seven league matches to play, you still have to stay positive.

“In any scenario where you are still mathematically in‚ you still have to keep pushing.

“We cannot stop the PSL title fight‚ we will have to keep pushing and performing.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen with the other matters.”

Komphela admitted, though, that the defeat against their traditional Soweto rivals had given a huge dent to his team’s league ambitions.

“Are we lacking behind a bit‚ yes we do. It was a massive opportunity for us to get closer to Sundowns.

“Orlando Pirates – they are there. It’s [the victory] a hell of a confidence booster for them.

“It could have been for us.

“Should it [the loss] write us off? I don’t think we should feel like that.

“We have the obligation and responsibility to keep performing.”

But Komphela admitted the result against Pirates might derail the team and demoralise the players.

His players would have to be mentally strong to recover, he said.

“You have to be driven. Any professional has to be driven,” he said.

“The beauty of the professional team or player is to suffer setbacks, consistently, and keep rising – and this is no different.

“The beauty of it is that we are playing Stellenbosch FC in the Nedbank Cup [on Saturday, in Durban]. “That could come in as therapy. “I hope we go through that match‚ win properly and then gain momentum and forget [the Pirates loss].”

But will forgetting and brushing aside this crucial defeat be an easy task for Komphela and his impis? “It not going to be easy,” he said. “I don’t think we will sleep well at all the rest of this weekend.

“This Bucs defeat will stick with the players.

“So how you get rid of it‚ you just keep the focus.”