Chiefs can still salvage season

DOWN, but not out! Kaizer Chiefs’ next six opponents in the Premiership must not take anything for granted. Instead they should always have that reminder in the back of their minds heading into the home straight.

Of course, it has been a turbulent 2020/21 season for Chiefs.

They are languishing in the bottom half of the league standings with 28 points, with only six matches – which equates to 18 points – left for them to gain some redemption and finish in the top eight.

Some will regard that as a mountain to climb for Amakhosi, as the points won’t come on a silver platter with the other teams also chasing various goals: either the league title, top-eight finish, continental qualifying spot or survival.

But introspection and reflection on their shortcomings could very well serve as motivation for Chiefs.

The fact that they haven’t been allowed to sign any players this season after the ban from Fifa, has played a tremendous role in their downfall after they came so close to winning the championship last season.

The players, who are in the last few months of their contracts, could very well see the guaranteed last eight games, including two from the Caf Champions League, as a form of trials in order to force the hand of the club and coach for new contracts.

Coach Gavin Hunt has also been reported to have his own targets ahead of the next transfer window, where Chiefs are expected to give him a blank cheque if he at least finishes in the top eight and keeps his job for another season.

But the 56-year-old Hunt is an astute man, who has rewarded loyalty when need be.

For Hunt, though, there might also be little room for him to choose between the Pan-African competition and finishing in the top eight.

The two competitions bring different challenges, but perhaps winning momentum is what the club really needs.

Chiefs will find out the identity of their next Champions League opponents today.

But imagine the morale boost it would bring to them if they were to be drawn against rivals Mamelodi Sundowns?

The script would be different, but the cast would remain the same with Chiefs motivated to once again tame Sundowns after beating them in the league last Sunday.

For Chiefs, the longer they stay in the continental competition which ends in July, the easier it might be for them to pick out the areas which will need their attention next season – where they have to return to being among the best on the domestic front.

Hunt has come across as someone who appears to be losing the dressing-room, with his vague answers to the media.

But crunch time always has a way of separating the pretenders from the contenders, and that’s why Hunt could have a very good idea of who to pick as his true soldiers.