Chiefs victory tops Mabedi’s agenda

PATRICK Mabedi may no longer have a job at Kaizer Chiefs by the end of this season, but the interim coach’s biggest concern is finishing with a couple of wins.

Mabedi has from the beginning of the season been serving as Steve Komphela’s assistant, but Komphela resigned last weekend following Chiefs’ 2-0 defeat to Free State Stars at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban in the Nedbank Cup semis.

Komphela’s departure means Amakhosi will have a new coach by the start of next season and he will probably bring his own staff.

Mabedi’s future hangs in the balance. He did not do himself any favours when he lost his first match in charge 3-1 to Golden Arrows at the Princess Magogo Stadium in Durban on Tuesday, but he is not really bothered about what will happen when a new coach is appointed.

“In football, you don’t talk about the future. I always say only God knows about the future. My task is just to go there and do the job, that’s all,” Mabedi insisted after the loss to Arrows.

Questioned on whether he was using the last couple of matches to audition for the head coach position, Mabedi could not commit.

“No, it’s difficult to give you a correct answer, but it’s people who [see what others do].

“I can’t say to myself I’m good or bad, but I can just say I need to go out there and do my job as normal and let whoever decide if I’m bad or I’m not good.

“So as the games go, the people would see how bad or good the person is,” he said.

Assessing a season that brought no silverware, the former Amakhosi skipper maintained, like his predecessor, that Chiefs had played good football this season.

“Look, the team has been playing well and you can’t fault anything. There’s nothing wrong, it’s just that we never put the ball in the back of the net. I mean, we’ve been playing good football, but sometimes if it’s not your time, it’s not your time.

“We have to take it and the only thing I saw is that we were playing well, but we couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net,” he said.

Next up for Chiefs is Maritzburg United, who they host at the FNB Stadium in Soweto on Saturday (3pm) and Mabedi is hopeful of a good finish in their penultimate clash.

“We just need to pick ourselves up and I think it’s possible, but for now if you see the character and the energy that we saw from the players we have [against Arrows].

“They fought and if they carry on with the same spirit, it would be a different ball game,” he said.