Kaizer Chiefs find themselves very close to the relegation line, this is deemed Chiefs’s worst start in the PSL era.
Amakhosi were known as the trophy specialist, there were years whereby if they win one trophy in a season, it would be deemed a bad season. However as things stand now, Amakhosi has not won a cup since Stuart Baxter left the team some 6 years ago (2014/15 Season when they won the Absa Premiership).
One could ask what is going wrong this season with the Glamour Boys… we know that Chiefs were restricted from signing new players for the two transfer windows, which means they could not bring in new blood to the team in the past transfer window around October 2020 and will not be able to buy additional players in this coming transfer window of January – February 2021.For now Chiefs’ main target might be to avoid relegation and fight for top eight position as the chancing of winning the inaugural DStv premiership are slipping away, game by game.
The tricky part is that Chiefs players can easily leave and join other clubs if their contracts are due to expire and Chiefs would not be able to replace them. This is believed to be the reason why Amakhosi renewed many contracts of players, such as Siphelele Ntshangase who failed to live to the expectation when he was signed from Baroka FC and few more players.
Chiefs is trying to ensure they have at least a decent number of players in their books especially when they are also taking part in the CAF Championship. Participation on the CAF Championship is known for being taxing on the player’s energy due to long travelling hours and playing games almost every three days. Teams like Mamelodi Sundowns excel in this tournament as they have big pool of quality players, and they can move them around easily to accommodating the Africa expeditions.
Again, what is so wrong with this team that missed winning a league by an inch? Did the wheels come off when they let go of George Maluleke? Are the players demoralised? Are the players intentionally not performing since they know Chiefs can’t replace them this season? Is Gavin Hunt not the right man for the Chiefs job? These are some of the questions that Chiefs management would be asking themselves.
Since the Covid Lockdown was announces in March 2020, Chiefs only managed to beat Polokwane City 3 – 2 on 15 August 2020 and Chippa United 1 – 0 on the 05 September 2020.
In this the new season of 2020/21 Amakhosi have only won one game against Chippa United, in which the goal came from Chippa United’s own goal.
This means since March 2020 to date, Chiefs have only won 3 PSL games, beating now relegated Polokwane City and Chippa United (latter was beaten twice). This happened under the previous coach Ernst Middendorp and also current coach Gavin Hunt.
If we start looking at the main two department that are in the team, i.e. the technical team and players we can conclude the following.
Coach Gavin Hunt – He is a very good coach that has brought success to teams like Supersport United and Bidvest Wits during his tenure. He is known as a coach that can get the best out of players. Even though things are not working out in his current team, it wouldn’t be advisable to Chiefs to fire him as whoever comes will still need to work with the same demoralised players.
Assistance Coaches – Maybe Chiefs should consider moving Arthur Zwane and Dillon Sheppard to the development structure and bring in two coaches that have PSL experience like Eric Tickler and Doctor Khumalo to come and assist Gavin Hunt, this has proved to be a successful formula as it worked wonders for Sundowns and Pirates.
Players – it has been reported that at least 5 players might not be available for today’s game against Amazulu at 15h00, due to injuries and other reasons. This could be a blessing in disguise for Hunt as it allows him a chance to give the frail players a chance to prove themselves in the first team. The popular Chiefs players have not been pulling their weights, making school children mistakes in the game, failing to threaten the opponent defence and goalkeepers. Worse of all whenever they concede a goal, they seems to lose interest completely in playing.
Today’s game might be a do or die for Gavin Hunt, and if I was in his position, I would field the players that I can trust from the team, drop big unreliable names, bring in soldier that will be willing to die in the field to protect his reputation and that of the team.
This article was written by a concerned Chiefs fan, Langanani. Opinion noted above are not of Diski101.com, its representatives, partners or advertisers.
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