Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane has explained how the club is dealing with the difficult situation it finds itself in regarding their player Siyabonga Ngezana, who is being hounded by the club’s supporters following his loss of form.
Zwane said that Ngezane and other Chiefs players will receive professional help in dealing with the difficult times they are going through.
“We have a team of psychologists that we work with and I think Siya will get help – not just him, all the players because they are under stress, more especially that the results are not forthcoming. Even when we are winning games, we still need to manage the players and make sure that we keep their feet on the ground,” said Zwane, who was speaking ahead of their MTN8 match against Stellenbosch FC this weekend.
“Siya is going to be fine. Like all the players, he is feeling the pressure of playing for Chiefs and that’s where I come in as a leader to make them understand what it means to play for this club. Unfortunately, people see things differently and think that I like Siya. No. I have to go to training and remain positive because I believe in all of them. It boils down to one thing and the issue is all about leadership and giving responsibility to the team and I know each and every player… their strengths and weaknesses and the challenges that they are faced with.
“In Siya’s case, yes, he committed huge blunders against Mamelodi Sundowns but as a leader, am I supposed to kill the young man because of that? How many other players, and not just at Chiefs, make such mistakes? It’s not only Siya that has made mistakes. It was a chain of mistakes – it started somewhere else and ended up with Siya and he had to pay the price. It’s how you come back from such, you have to recover from such setbacks and rectify those mistakes,” added Zwane.
Zwane said that people have to understand that football is a 24-hour profession so they have to conduct themselves properly off the field too.
“People are not happy – sometimes we go to shopping centres and people say things that are not nice and it’s how you respond and conduct yourself. People do not say these things because they hate us – they say these things because they love the team and want to see Chiefs do well,” Zwane added.
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