Past to boost the future
FORMER Bafana Bafana striker Bernard Parker will look to roll back the clock to 2014 when Kaizer Chiefs host Platinum Stars at Cape Town Stadium on Sunday.
The fixture is the second of three home matches the Soweto club will stage in the Mother City this season, after their 2-1 win against Wits in December and ahead of February’s clash against Supersport United.
Parker’s role in the victory over Wits was curtailed to a cameo when he was injured inside the first 20 minutes and substituted.
Though that game will not live long in his memory, the striker says he does have much better recollections of playing in the iconic venue; particularly those made during the 2014 African Nations Championship (CHAN).
“Cape Town has always been good to us, even when we play Ajax. This time around it’s a home game and we have great, loving Amakhosi supporters cheering for us,” he said.
“It’s such an honour and a great motivation to play in a stadium with that calibre of support. I have very good memories of Cape Town Stadium, especially with national team. I can remember during CHAN, I scored four goals and finished as the tournament top goal-scorer.”
Chiefs recently stretched their PSL undefeated run to five matches when they edged Bloemfontein Celtic 1-0 in the Free State, thanks to a 72nd minute Willard Katsande penalty, and Parker says he intends to replicate his CHAN 2014 form and fire the club to a second consecutive win in 2016.
“I will be looking to get on the scoresheet again against Platinum Stars. It’s our home game and we have to produce the result,” he said.
“Our first home game in Cape Town against Wits went well, and this time around we’re more familiar with the venue and even more psyched up. I predict that we’re definitely going to get a positive result.”
Chiefs are currently fourth on the league table, trailing Mamelodi Sundowns and Black Aces by five points.
Though the Glamour Boys remain in title contention at the season’s halfway mark, and appeared in both the MTN8 and Telkom Knockout finals (losing both), their performances this season have paled in comparison to the 2014/15 campaign.
Last season Stuart Baxter led the club to victory in the MTN8 and claimed the league title with three games to spare (with runners-up Sundowns eventually finishing 12 points behind Chiefs) before leaving for Turkish side Gençlerbirli i.
Parker believes Chiefs are improving with every match and expects things to click into place as soon as the players come to grips with the methods of current coach Steve Komphela.
“We are still getting familiar with the new coach’s philosophy. It’s starting to become clearer and clearer. I’m confident that we will be producing good results consistently very soon,” he said.
“Last season was great, but we had been with the coach for three seasons; that’s why we won the league so convincingly. We are still in the race this season and anything can happen.
“It’s not easy to compare Stuart Baxter and Steve Komphela.
“It takes time for a player to adapt from one style to another. We have been adapting well and we are behind the coach.”
As for his own performances in the famous black and gold jersey this season; Parker does not rate those as highly.
The 29-year-old scored seven league goals during the previous campaign, but has hit the back of the net just twice so far in the current season summing up his performances at ‘below par’.