Steve Komphela staying put

Njabulo Ngidi speaks to Kaizer Chiefs boss Kaizer Motaung about a second barren season and the coach’s future at the club

On two seasons without a trophy

It's not a train smash. I know that's not a nice thing to say, especially for the supporters because over the years we have spoiled them.

We can just take solace from the fact that in the past four seasons, there were only two clubs that dominated the league - Chiefs and (Mamelodi) Sundowns.

So if Sundowns win the league again this season, obviously they will be one up on us. That's the nature of the game.

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Your thoughts on the season

The season was a mixed bag this time. We didn't start very well. At some stage we got it right, then we took another dive.

When I thought that things were coming right, we took another turn [for the worse].

There was no real consistency because if you look at the number of draws, I won't even talk about the games we lost, some of those draws were really unnecessary.

But to crown the whole thing, the last three games we played in the league, we dropped about seven points. Unnecessarily. We shouldn't have dropped those points.

I mean, the draw against [Golden] Arrows was unnecessary. Even against Cape Town City we shouldn't have lost.

We should have buried SuperSport [United] long ago. That's the nature of the game [if you don't take your chances, you get punished].

That's water under the bridge now. We have to look at going forward.

We need to put our act together and make sure that next season things pan out differently.

How will you make sure that things pan out differently next season?

We need to do a proper review of everything. From that review, we will be able to map our way forward. We have seen the areas that we need to solidify. But what we do will depend on the review that we will make.

We have to give other people a chance to also make their input so that we aren't leaving anybody outside and when we make a decision, it's based on a very sound understanding on how things are.

Your feelings on the coach's performance in the last two seasons

I must say that the first season wasn't so bad as far as I am concerned. We got into two cup finals (the MTN8 and Telkom Knockout, which he both lost).

But in the league, obviously, we didn't do well. The team that we have now, the way we play compared to last season this time, this team is playing much better than last season.

I can say that there is improvement as far as the team is concerned. We need to tighten up the loose ends that are there. It's clear that there is something missing.

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Does Steve Komphela still have your backing?

He still has my backing. Obviously, as I said, when you analyse the whole thing, it can't just come to the fact that we didn't win anything in two seasons.

We must be able to see if there is a chance [to succeed] next season or not and then we can be able to judge him next season.

You've gone from dominating to watching others shine

These are things that happen. These are the challenges that you face in football. You reach a high and then, depending on how you restructure your team for next season, you can either continue or drop.

(Mamelodi Sundowns coach) Pitso [Mosimane] has done a good job in keeping Sundowns at the top in the last two seasons in the way he has had his team going.

Obviously it's still a challenge for him because of the Caf (Confederation of African Football) Champions League.

These guys are human. They are not machines. There can come a time where he also experiences a bit of a problem.

Some of the signings the club made at the start of the season saw little action

It simply says that we made the wrong choices. That's why the issue of a review comes into play. We have to check and see whether we did the right things or not.

We also have to look at our youth structure because we have some good prospects coming from there.

You saw one last week [Ryan Moon], he showed great promise. There is also [Emmanuel] Letlotlo and the other one who is with the Under-20s [Wiseman Meyiwa].

These are players who you need to give opportunities to.

It's just that sometimes when coaches are coaching these big teams like Chiefs and [Orlando] Pirates, the problem is that some coaches don't really buy into young players.

They don't give them the opportunities they deserve. As a result you find that a player is good but he is there and isn't playing.

The next thing is that he moves to another club. When he goes there he gets a chance to play and does well.

By the time you wake up and want to buy that player, you have to pay a fortune. Just like [Manchester United did with Paul] Pogba.

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On criticism that you are no longer competitive in the market

It's not so much what we have done (or haven't done) in the market (that put us here). If you look at the last five games we played, we played good football.

It's just those small glitches here and there because all the games we played, when you analyse it, we play good football. It's just that the final touch has killed us.

As far as the market is concerned, the market in South Africa is skewed. The value of a player is determined by who is interested. It's not determined by the value of a player.

That's why you get a player who might be worth R500,000. Another club could buy him for that. But if we raise our hand, that player suddenly costs R5-million overnight.

That's the challenge that we have, unless we change the system and we become much more transparent and the players are evaluated like they do in Europe.

You know that this is the market value of the players and everything is transparent. Then it's okay. It can be better.

But there are teams that obviously make money by selling players to the bigger teams like us, as opposed to wanting to succeed and win cups. They make money by selling players.

With the club signing a deal with Medshield as their medical-aid partner, in a deal in the region of "R15-million to R18-million" over three years, that means the fans can afford to take care of the heart attacks the club has put them on

(Laughs) Hopefully we don't reach a stage where we have heart attacks. Hopefully they (Medshield) come and enhance our commercial side so that we save money in order for us to invest it in the business.

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