UNTOUCHABLE CHIEFS
Mandla magic as Amakhosi keep unbeaten record
AWRY, KNOWING smile flickered across Stuart Baxter’s face as Clive Barker lauded him and his team with praises.
The Kaizer Chiefs coach, having just presided over yet another victory that saw his team end the first half of the 2014/2015 season unbeaten and still top of the table, had said before this weekend’s 1-0 victory over Black Aces that he wasn’t going to fall for the plaudits from his opposition. But as he sat next to the Aces coach at the post-match conference at the FNB Stadium, Amakhosi’s coach seemed to be flattered.
And with good reason too, with Barker stopping short of proclaiming this Chiefs team the best he’s ever seen. “This team is getting up there to be with the best Chiefs sides I’ve come up against in my 34 years of coaching,” Barker said.
“And where they are perhaps better is in their ability to fight. In the past I used to feel that Chiefs sides had a soft underbelly but this one is different because they have shown an ability to often fight back from impossible position. They grab strength from each other and use it for the team’s good. When they go on to the pitch they always look like they want to really play.”
Barker though, would really love to see Chiefs stopped from walking away with the title as they appear to be – his belief they will be crowned champions notwithstanding.
“I think Stuart is too astute and too experienced to lose the league title now. But the clubs need to stand up and take Chiefs on. They shouldn’t allow them to walk away with the title so easily. Chiefs must know that we’re going to make a helluva fight of it for them. Unfortunately we (Aces) have had both our opportunities to stop them and we couldn’t.”
On Saturday though, Aces should have at least maintained their good record of not being beaten on the road. Amazayoni scored on 51 minutes via Aubrey Ngoma – the midfielder’s shot from range beating Brilliant Khuzwayo and bouncing off the underside of the crossbar then over the line and back into play.
But both the referee and his assistant didn’t see that the ball had gone over and waved play on, leaving Barker to call for goalline technology.
“That ball was this much (he shows with his hands) in. I’m amazed that no one picked it up. We need goalline technology,” he said.
Chiefs won the match via a Mandla Masango goal follow- ing a superb cross from the right by a limping Kingston Nkhatha. It was Masango’s fourth goal against Aces this season, the winger having scored a brace in the MTN8 as well as being on the mark in Amakhosi’s first round win in Mbombela.
Baxter was understandably happy with the victory: “I’m delighted we got the win. It was very important that we did not finish the season with an anti-climax. I’m hoping we can continue on the road that we’ve got on when the season resumes.”
To do that though, Baxter knows he will have to beef up the Chiefs squad – especially with the team’s participation in the Caf Champions League looming.
“We know all the pitfalls and minefields, so we might be looking to strengthen. Maybe we might need a central midfielder. We’re nowhere near 100 percent, we still have a lot of work to do. I’m pleased with how we’re progressing but there is a lot to improve.”
Barker smiled, clearly disagreeing.