I think most of the clubs lost the plot the minute they started listening to influencers,
supporters, and social media instructions and outbursts. Two years ago, the fickle Kaizer
Chiefs caused an uproar, and one could swear that the unrelenting fans were going to burn
down Mount Naturena if they did not have their way or if the club bosses did not sign Tunisian coach Nasreddine Nabi. Chiefs fans can be so predictable and equally unpredictable at the same time. You can never know where you stand with them. The way they chased Arthur Zwane out of the club a few seasons ago, you could disagree that “10111” was once their darling when he darted down the Amakhosi right flank. Almost
every match resulted in the up and-coming coach having to leave the grounds in a police escort. Molefi Ntseki was never going to stand a chance. They hounded him the minute he was announced as the man to replace Zwane, and he was one of the most loathed coaches in the history of the PSL. He did not arrive with a glowing CV after his rather uninspiring stint as Bafana Bafana coach, where he failed to qualify for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. Just like Zwane, he was also becoming cozy and was falling in love with the snug and the comfort at the back of a police van after losing matches. Cavin Johnson also had a promising career as a coach before he made his way to Naturena. He had admirable spells at Platinum Stars and SuperSport United but as they say, coaching Amakhosi is not for sissies.
At one point, Johnson apologised to the team’s millions of supporters after the club was humiliated by minnows Milford FC, who dumped Chiefs out of the Nedbank Cup. He led Chiefs to number 10 in the 2023/24 season, their lowest ever finish in the PSL era, and just like his predecessors, the club could not guarantee his safety, and Johnson was taken out of his misery. So, one is rather intrigued about what is likely to happen at the Chiefs village after a season that promised so much but turned pear-shaped in a matter of weeks.
Co-coaches Cedric Kaze and the comfort at the back of a police van after losing matches.
Cavin Johnson also had a promising career as a coach before he made his way to Naturena. He had admirable spells at Platinum Stars and SuperSport United but as they say, coaching
Amakhosi is not for sissies. At one point, Johnson apologised to the team’s millions of
supporters after the club was humiliated by minnows Milford FC, who dumped Chiefs out of
the Nedbank Cup. He led Chiefs to number 10 in the 2023/24 season, their lowest ever finish in the PSL era, and just like his predecessors, the club could not guarantee his safety, and Johnson was taken out of his misery. So, one is rather intrigued about what is likely to happen at the Chiefs village after a season that promised so much but turned pear-shaped in a matter of weeks. Khalil Ben Youssef were really onto something massive. They
were upbeat about defending their Nedbank Cup trophy, were also in a cosy place in the CAF Confederation Cup group stages, and were also breathing down Betway Premiership front-runners Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns’ necks, sitting in third position and a mere two points adrift at some stage. But it has fallen like dominoes, and the only solace, mathematically, is that they can still win the league – even though it is as far-fetched as a Bollywood prent. So, the biggest question is what happens to Ben Youssef and Kaze? Truth be told, they have not really captured the imaginations of the Chiefs fans or made them swing from the chandelier with excitement.
One thing for sure is that they really rode their luck and notched up some victories out
of nothing. But a big institution like Chiefs does not work or bank on luck. They cannot
even be mentioned in the same sentence as Geoff Butler and Ted Dumitru, who made millions fall in love with the club with their impeccable coaching tactics and winning mentality. With the two, it’s just run-of the-mill stuff, and there isn’t much to look forward to next season – the fans are so dumb founded they don’t even know what to say. The silence from the fans is deafening. If the club plans on keeping the two for the next season, I see another season of directionless football, no identity, a lack of winning mentality, no
dying for the badge, and definitely not the Amakhosi the fans fell in love with. This has been the Chiefs’ story in the last couple of seasons.
