Rookie Klate will get no breathing space

Iam conflicted. Okay, let me start from the beginning so you are able to follow me. I remember a few years ago the local coaches union, the South African Football Coaches Association (Safca) called on coaches to boycott the Chippa United job.

This, they said, was because of the ill-treatment and abuse coaches receive at the Eastern Cape-based club. It first became a joke that at Chippa coaches are not given enough time and get fired after a few games should results not be favourable.

It then became a serious issue with Safca urging their members and other coaches in general to boycott the club. Then the supporters also threatened to boycot the club’s games.

But obviously those were Twitter activists who are usually all talk (hiding behind their cellphones) and nothing came of that.

I was not supportive of the Safca call, not because I thought it was wrong, but because I felt they should not get their way with things.

If they get their way with these and other issues, we would be running the risk of them becoming a cabal and thinking they own the trade.

But one understood their call. That is why I said earlier that I am conflicted as I write this. A part of me wants to urge Safca to make the call again, and remind coaches of the dangers of working at that club.

This thought crossed my mind after watching Chippa get a beating for the second time in a row in the DStv Premiership. As we discussed the result with a friend, he suggested that this means the timer had been set on Daine Klate, who is the current coach there.

Klate will have to pull a big upset against his former team Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium tomorrow to give himself some breathing space. A third loss in a row could spell an end to his career as a senior coach even before it has actually begun.

This would obviously be unfair. When other clubs announced their coaches and new players for the season, Chippa were undecided. They instead suspended Kurt Lentjies who one would assume had started the team’s pre-season training and preparations.

When other teams got a solid four weeks of pre-season preparations, Klate had just over a week. And just his luck, the fixtures did not do him any good either, with fixtures against top teams in their opening rounds.

They started at SuperSport United, followed by Royal AM and now they have Pirates. After that it will be Maritzburg United and TS Galaxy.

I know Chippa owner and chairman Siviwe Mpengesi tried to explain the hasty suspension of Lentjies and Klate’s appointment later on. But I was still left confused.

He said Lentjies declined the offer to bring in another coach with some experience to work with, either as his assistant or as a co-coach.

But what I find funny about this reason for firing Lentjies is that when Klate was hired, such “help” was not suggested. Both Klate and Lentjies are inexperienced.

In fact, Lentjies has some experience, having saved the side from relegation last season.

But as an old IsiZulu saying goes: Ohlaba eyakhe akanqwatshelwa (when a man decides to slaughter his own cattle no one can stop them).