Steve Komphela has done a great job for Kaizer Chiefs‚ says Bobby Motaung

23 April 2018 - 14:59 By Mark Gleeson
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Bobby Motaung and Steve Komphela coach of Kaizer Chiefs during the Kaizer Chiefs Press Conference on 27 June 2016 at Kaizer Chiefs Village.
Bobby Motaung and Steve Komphela coach of Kaizer Chiefs during the Kaizer Chiefs Press Conference on 27 June 2016 at Kaizer Chiefs Village.
Image: Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix

Kaizer Chiefs football manager Bobby Motaung is attempting to paint a rosy picture of the three-year tenure of Steve Komphela‚ even after his coach quit at the weekend in the wake of the mayhem at Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Komphela exited the club without winning a single trophy but that did not stop Motaung from paying tribute to the mentor.

“Anyone sensible‚ anyone who knows football‚ will recognise that Steve has done a great job for Kaizer Chiefs‚” insisted Motaung‚ who is himself in the firing line over his mediocre recruitments for the club in recent seasons.

“He has built a team but unfortunately when it’s not meant to be for you‚ it’s not meant to be.

"Whoever takes over in the future has got a cake baked already for them just to eat.

"Steve revamped and built the Chiefs team over three years and we always had confidence in him but‚ unfortunately‚ he did not get results.

"It hurts because it disrupts our plans for the future.”

This sentiment is at odds with the fury that disappointed fans have expressed at various times over the last months‚ culminating in the ugly riot at the end of the 2-0 loss to unfancied Free State Stars in Saturday night’s Nedbank Cup semifinal.

Motaung has long backed Komphela even though his father‚ who owns the club‚ has long held reservations about the ability of local coaches.

Komphela was only the second South African in three decades to coach the club on a permanent basis but did not bring in a single trophy‚ in contrast to his English predecessor Stuart Baxter who won two league titles in three years but regularly clashed with Bobby Motaung‚ particularly over player recruitment.

Chiefs’ bigwigs spent hours in board meetings last week‚ reviewing the positioning of the club‚ its failures in the transfer market and its loss of its prime position in the domestic market‚ out-muscled over the last decade by Mamelodi Sundowns.

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