‘We are not psychologists’: Johnson stuck for answers to Chiefs’ scoring woes

Cavin Johnson says Kaizer Chiefs are “angry at themselves” and his players were “arguing in the changeroom” after they spurned chances and sagged to a third defeat in succession against Richards Bay FC that saw Amakhosi drop out of the DStv Premiership top eight.

Johnson though, seemed again to have no answer for what the short-term solution could be to his team’s scoring problem as their 1-0 loss at King Zwelithini Stadium on Sunday saw Amakhosi drop from eighth to 10th place.

Chiefs have not scored in four games.

Having shown promise at the end of 2023 after Johnson became interim coach to replace Molefi Ntseki in October, Chiefs continued their freefall down the table in 2024.

Amakhosi went to five league matches without a win, four of those defeats, and their record this year reads: played eight, won one, drawn three, lost four.

“Again it's one of those games where your opposition has one chance at goal and you have 85% ball possession and you are not able to win,” Johnson said.

“So yes, we are angry at ourselves. I thought we should have won the game in the first half.

“The second half was a bit different but in the first half we had a lot of possession and got in the box a few times and we should have put the combinations or [had] the calmness and scored the goals.

“My players are in the dressing room arguing with each other because these are things we know we should do better.

“We have to go back and start again, though we’ve only got six games now. The tide has to turn for Kaizer Chiefs somewhere, because as far as ball possession and playing the right players is concerned, I don’t think we are making that mistake [in those areas]. But in putting the ball in the back of the net we have to be better.”

Chiefs are now in serious danger of finishing outside the top eight for a second time since 2006-2007 — the last was six seasons ago in 2018-2019.

Johnson was asked what he can do in the short-term to get his players taking chances again.

“We are not psychologists; we are just technical coaches, football coaches,” he responded.

“We have to look back at the game in understanding why this is happening, what the combinations are, why we’re not having fun.

“In your training you create many free goal-scoring opportunities whereby the players can feel what it feels like [to score]. But it’s still not happening.

“Maybe I need to take them for gun shooting or something like that and they’ll be better.

“At the moment we have to dig deep in our technical staff to see what we can do to make finishing a finished product.”

Asked if it is time to say goodbye to Chiefs’ chances of a top-three finish to qualify for a Caf continental competition, the coach said: “I never say goodbye until the last game, so we as a technical team have to push as hard as we can. For us, that [Caf qualification] is not out of our way and the players know that.

“It’s one major pressure bubble we are in now and we have to break the bubble somewhere.”

Chiefs, who have 30 points in 24 matches, meet fifth-placed SuperSport United next at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Saturday.