Johannesburg – Kaizer Chiefs legend and former goal poacher Pollen “Trompies” Ndlanya says that Gavin Hunt deserves the kudos and that Amakhosi supporters must thank him for the club reaching the CAF Champions League finals.
Hunt was fired towards the end of the season after a topsy-turvy campaign that also saw the Glamour Boys flirt with relegation and dropping points alarmingly.
While they were doing a wonderful job on the African continent, they were shoddy and substandard in the Premier Soccer League.
Ndlanya was a feared striker for Amakhosi. He scored 27 goals in 54 matches for Amakhosi with his fierce and aggressive forays upfront.
He said: “People are not talking about Hunt’s contribution. It was because of Gavin that Chiefs went this far. He deserves all the praise but as we all know, people only remember and judge you by the bad things and never the good things.
“He did all the hard work in the CAF competition without signing players and the supporters must give him the credit.”
Amakhosi rewrote the history books last week after they reached the finals of Africa’s most prestigious club tournament for the first time in the club’s existence.
They defeated Wydad Athletic 1-0 on aggregate, following Samir Nurkovic’s sweet goal in Casablanca and the hard-fought goalless draw at FNB Stadium.
Not much has been said about Hunt, the man who led Chiefs to an unprecedented semifinal spot, achieved under rather gruelling and difficult circumstances.
All the credit for such an amazing feat has gone the direction of Hunt’s former assistant and caretaker coaches Arthur “10111” Zwane and Dillon Sheppard.
In fact, most Chiefs followers have even suggested that Zwane be rewarded with the post of head coach on a permanent basis.
Stuart Baxter was appointed to replace Hunt towards the end of the season.
Under Hunt’s tutelage, Amakhosi unexpectedly made it past the group stages against tough opponents such as Wydad, Horoya FC and Petro de Luanda of Angola.
In the quarterfinals, they walloped Simba FC in Johannesburg and held on to dear life in Tanzania as they slithered into the last four.
It is a fact that in the domestic league he performed very badly and the players’ attitude was not consistent.
“Yes, Arthur did a wonderful job, but the hard work and the foundation was already done and it’s all in the stats,” Ndlanya said.
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