Fans’ honest assessment
If I were to meet him… Siyabonga Nkalambela – Chiefs supporter
“If we are to gauge Khama’s input, we must remember that under (Giovanni) Solinas he was superb, scoring and assisting. Unfortunately, the coach’s time was cut short. Yes, the numbers don’t lie and the stats show that he has not delivered as per his standard, but I would go way beyond that when analysing his time at Naturena. Did the management put enough effort in surrounding him with quality and players worth donning the Chiefs jersey? Absolutely not! Even though he has not lived up to the expectations, our management must also do a deep introspection in this matter. If I were to meet him, I would also be honest with him and ask him to pull some weight … of course in a respectful and constructive way … and I’m sure he is well aware that the next seven or so months will go a long way in determining his stay beyond the expiration of his current contract. If we
are serious about rebuilding, we can’t do that without experienced players around these young players. Having said all that, I think there is a lot that he can still give us as he can play as a winger and also as a target man when we have some casualties.”
No player has disappointed me the way Billiat’s done Marvin Matseke-Mabula – Chiefs supporter
“As a staunch Chiefs supporter, Khama Billiat joining Amakhosi in 2018 was the best news I’d ever received and at first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw the news on Twitter, not least because Chiefs were signing mediocre or average players then. We were into our fourth year without a trophy and signing Billiat raised our hopes that we could finally end our trophy drought after what he had achieved at Sundowns. But to say Billiat has not lived up to expectations since signing for Chiefs would be a huge understatement and I’ve long given up on him rediscovering his form. Different coaches have come and gone at Naturena and all of the coaches gave him enough chances, but he has failed dismally to replicate the form that saw him win the PSL Footballer of the Season and going on to win the CAF Champions League with Downs in 2016. Don’t get me wrong, Billiat is a quality player, but in all honesty, he went to Chiefs just for a big paycheque because the man had already won almost everything there is to win in the PSL and you can just tell by his body language when he’s on the field for Chiefs. He seems unbothered that Chiefs are not winning any trophies and his work rate leaves a lot to be desired. We as supporters tend to criticise coaches and say they
have played him in a wrong formation or position, but modern players are able to adapt to any system preferred by the coach. I’ve checked his stats since he moved to Chiefs – and he has scored less than 20 goals. Very poor for a player of his quality and he’s never been key for Chiefs even for a single season. Which season can we really say that Billiat was our best player? The club has a big decision to make since his contract is coming to an end, but my unsolicited advice to management would be to let him go because his performances don’t do any justice to the package he’s currently on. The club must rather keep faith in our development players. Mdu Tshabalala and Samkelo Zwane look ready to carry the team and you could tell by the way they took their penalties during the derby. We have to take into consideration his age as
well as he’s 32 and probably has two years left in him. I mean, he failed to carry the team at his peak years, so we need to stop being naive and thinking he’s going to perform miracles. To see him play 90 minutes in the Carling Black Label Cup was just torture for me. You can just see that coach Arthur Zwane is playing him based on his past performances as a Downs player because he’s a liability. I’ve always questioned his commitment. His stats don’t make for good reading. No player has disappointed me the way Billiat has done. Women lie, men lie, but numbers don’t, and Billiat’s numbers are abysmal.”