The Chiefs coach, faced with such a dire prospect, appears to be running out of things to say. For someone known for his verbosity, that is a worrying sign.
"Respect to them. Listen, there is one thing you cannot do, you don't bite the hand that feeds you," was Komphela's familiar reaction to the unhappiness in the stands that has carried over from last season.
"You've got to give them utmost respect," he said.
But one cannot say the writing is now on the wall for Komphela. The Chiefs coach did not win a trophy in two seasons, finishing fifth and fourth in the league.
The signs that this campaign might be no better came at the end of the last season when chairman Kaizer Motaung and football manager Bobby Motaung made ominous noises that wholesale signings would not be needed for a squad that had achieved only mediocrity.