Hunt muted, Baxter back?
His second coming will be no solution to Chiefs ongoing crisis
● Gavin Hunt’s successor at Kaizer Chiefs is likely to be on the bench when the Glamour Boys face Moroccan giants Wydad Athletic in the first leg of the Caf Champions League semifinal on June 18, sources close to the club told the Sunday Times.
Former Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter, the last man to win silverware at Chiefs, in 2015, is speculated to be making a comeback alongside his former assistant coach and his successor at Bafana, Molefi Ntseki, whom our sources confirmed might be at Naturena as early as tomorrow as Baxter’s assistant and also head of the club’s development.
While Ntseki could be in charge of Chiefs’ last two Premiership matches against Lamontville Golden Arrows at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday and away to TS Galaxy on Saturday, Baxter, who won two league and two domestic cup competitions in his first stint at Chiefs between 2013 and 2015, is earmarked for the first leg of the semifinal against Wydad in Morocco.
But Baxter’s return at Naturena will come as a bit of a surprise because when the Briton left his main complaint was the club failing to sign the new players that he wanted.
After a turbulent nine months at Chiefs where Hunt couldn’t even win twice against one opponent in 28 matches in the DStv Premiership where Amakhosi are now looking likely to finish in their worst position — not only in the Premier Soccer League era but in their entire 51 years — Chiefs management pulled the plug on Friday, firing the four-time league winning coach who came with huge expectations.
The 56-year-old’s sacking may not have been expected as great results in the Champions League glossed over poor ones in the domestic league. But the defeat by bottomplaced Black Leopards in Thohoyandou on Wednesday was the last straw for Chiefs management, who were said to have been displeased with his work ethic.
“The work ethic and training methods were simply not in line with Chiefs’ expectations. The man [Hunt] also made it known that he doesn’t believe in technology,” a source close to developments at Naturena said.
But what incensed the club most was that they’re ending the campaign with some bad statistics, one being a goal difference at -5 having conceded 35 goals and scored only 30. Chiefs are in 11th spot and 30 points behind champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
“Losing to three bottom teams in a row, I mean Leopards, TTM [Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila] and Chippa [United], was just too much. But his sacking was not yesterday’s [Friday’s] decision. It was long coming.
for the first time in their history. They finished with 36 points [eighth place] in 1985 but remember at that time you were getting two points for a win as opposed to three now. In terms of the goals conceded it will be the worst ever.”
But our source said it was the poor relationship that Hunt had with some players, especially senior ones, that didn’t help him in getting the expected results.
“It wasn’t great,” he added. “He wasn’t happy with certain players and he told some that he doesn’t want them. Players like [Willard] Katsande, he’s obviously the one I can confirm was told he didn’t believe in him. That entire squad for him was not good enough for Hunt.”
Hunt joined Chiefs in September and within his first month Fifa banned the club for a season from signing new players. With his pedigree of winning three back-to-back league titles with SuperSport United and one with Bidvest Wits, he was still expected to have a decent season after the club finished second on the log with Ernst Middendorp last season.
Hunt joins Italian Giovanni Solinas and Middendorp as Chiefs coaches who did not finish their contracts with Chiefs in the past three years.
Ntseki’s agent, Thato Matuka, couldn’t confirm that his client was heading to Chiefs. Our sources, however, said Matuka had talks with Chiefs early this week and it was a matter of time before he was unveiled, possibly ahead of Baxter, who is based in Europe after his contract with Odisha FC in the Indian Super League ended abruptly in February after his unsavoury comment on rape created a storm in the Indian media.
“The speculation is not far off but there’s a slight difference from what is in the public domain. But the speculation is right in terms of Ntseki going to Chiefs and that he will be with Baxter [as his assistant]. It’s also true that Ntseki will head the development academy at Chiefs.
“He’s got a senior role, but the advantage is that he’s worked with Stuart. But with or without Stuart he [Ntseki] was going to Chiefs anyway. He’s going to work with the first team as well as in the club’s development structures,” our source added.
“The new head coach will come before the Champions League semifinal, but Ntseki will take over in the last two league games with Stuart joining the team thereafter.”
The work ethic and training methods were not in line with expectations
A source close to developments at Kaizer Chiefs on Gavin Hunt