CHIEFS’ EYES ARE ON THE MAIN PRIZE
Clever Boys hot on heels of stumbling Chiefs, Sundowns
GAVIN Hunt is ready to pounce with Bidvest Wits should Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns slip up in their last two Premiership games.
The Clever Boys are back in the title race and invigorated following a string of unfavourable results by the two obvious favourites.
Hunt will have every reason to believe that he can spoil the party for Amakhosi and the Brazilians and claim his record fifth league title as a complete dark horse.
The 58-year-old coach is one of the most decorated football coaches in South Africa and certainly knows that until the champions are declared, it’s not over.
He is currently tied with the late Ted Dumitru, Pitso Mosimane and Gordon Igesund with four league triumphs under his belt.
Hunt and his troops are third on the log, just four points behind both Chiefs and Sundowns. All they require is to win their last two matches and hope that the bad run of form and inconsistency will continue for the two leading teams.
Wits will finish against the relegation-threatened Black Leopards and Polokwane City in their two remaining games. Six points in the last two games will propel them to 55 points.
Hunt is understandably not ready to entertain talk that they can still win the league, even though the maths still puts him firmly among the potential winners.
“No, we are not talking about that at all (that we can win the league). We are very weak. We don’t have our full-strength side. Whoever plays knows the ethics of the team. That’s it. It is very important,” Hunt said dismissively.
Wits have shown great resilience despite the fact that the team has been sold to Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila.
“We try and grind results in every game. We’ve had a much weakened squad in this bubble. It is not our best team that we are putting out every week. Players who have come in have done well. We are just looking forward to the last two games,” Hunt added.
Chiefs will square off against Chippa United and Baroka FC in their last two games, while Sundowns have dates with Polokwane City and Black Leopards to conclude their schedule.
Hunt may be showing less interest in the league outcome but surely the seasoned mentor will be hoping that Chiefs and Sundowns stumble again in their last two games for his men to emerge from the blind side.
“We’ve shown the same fighting spirit ever since I’ve been here. I’ve instilled that in the team. That’s where we wanted to be (among the top three). We are a strong team, we just don’t have the individual qualities of Chiefs and a lot of teams (Orlando Pirates and Sundowns) but we’ve got collective quality. That is more important,” Hunt detailed.
In fact, Wits were one of the teams that got the better of the Glamour Boys in their previous encounter. They will be heading into their last league clash oozing with confidence.