‘ Travel may be the right tonic’
TRAVEL MAY BE JUST THE TONIC THEY NEED
It has been a period of trial and error since Gavin Hunt joined Kaizer Chiefs, as he tries to find the right combinations to get Amakhosi fi ring again. The slow start has brought some fear from some within the club’s faithful that Hunt may not be able to get the team going and one cannot help understanding their anxiety, with the team having lost four, won two and drawn two in their first eight games.
It has indeed been a terrible start, and as unreasonable as it may sound, even calls for Hunt’s head have started on social media.
Hunt will, however, hope that a trip to Cameroon, where Chiefs begin their Caf Champions League campaign against PWD Bamenda in Limbe, will be the tonic Amakhosi need.
Speaking after yet another disappointing result, a 1- 0 defeat to Swallows in a league game on Tuesday, Hunt said they will try again to get going.
Trying again in a foreign country may just be what the doctor ordered for Amakhosi – they will have to play their own way because they will know very little about their opponents, who are participating in the continental showpiece for the first time.
Chiefs, and Hunt to some extent, are not known to be hugely fond of this competition either.
This lowers the level of expectation and pressure and gives room for the players to apply themselves comfortably.
The away game could give Hunt an opportunity to experiment and perhaps give more youngsters some game time to build them up as it looks like he will have to rely on them more often than not with the likes of Willard Katsande and Bernard Parker not performing up to scratch so far.
Amakhosi left for Cameroon yesterday with their game set for Sunday and the return leg for next Friday at FNB Stadium.
After playing both legs of this preliminary round of the Champions League, Amakhosi will then be back to domestic matters with a game against Black Leopards on 8 December.