Baxter out to beat jinx

Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter hopes the coach of the quarter award he picked up yesterday is not a bad omen for his team.

In the past three seasons no PSL coach that has received the early accolades for his team's performance had gone on to win the league title.

The award is often a jinx to the in-form team.

Baxter, who was voted the best coach in the PSL following Amakhosi's unbeaten run so far in the campaign, said he was eager for history not to repeat itself.

"We need to maintain our attitude and keep our eyes firmly on the prize," was the coach's biblical response when he was told that his counterparts Gavin Hunt and Johan Neeskens both received the award before Christmas but failed to win the league.

"I hope history will not have a role in who will win the league. We have to look at how we play in every game. This is a nice recognition of the work we are doing, but I hope this will not be my five minutes in the limelight."

Baxter will also hope his Bafana players return from the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations - from January 19 to February 10 - without any injuries.

Chiefs are likely to have at least six players in the Bafana squad for the continental tournament.

Amakhosi have been unstoppable in the past 10 league matches, and have been held to three draws and won seven games.

"At some stage we will probably hit a blip, but at the moment we don't know how it feels. We will see how long we can carry on with this run," the coach said.

Baxter arrived at the club in June following the sacking of Vladimir Vermezovic seven matches before the end of the previous campaign. The Englishman said yesterday he had given the Chiefs "structure".

"All I've done is give them structure. Within that, I have also tried to inspire them and allow the players to express themselves, and Bernard Parker is a great example of that."

Parker has scored seven goals in nine matches for Chiefs and was named the player of the quarter alongside his coach.

Last season Parker only managed four goals in all competitions, after playing more than 20 Premier League games.