Middendorp wary of Chiefs' favourites tag
Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp is uncomfortable with the favourites tag that has been attached to the club ahead of next month's Nedbank Cup final.
Chiefs face lower tier side TS Galaxy in the May 18 final at the Moses Mabhida Stadium and perhaps have their best chance of ending a four-year wait for silverware.
But Middendorp‚ who won the SAA Supa8 in his previous spell with Chiefs between 2005 and 2007‚ was at pains to downplay the increasing belief that his charges already have one hand on the trophy.
“I do have problems with this questioning (about being favourites)‚” said Middendorp
“I have a little bit of the problem to answer this.
"I know you want a headline‚ you need a headline.
“I can’t give you this headline. I can’t answer this question. I don’t want really to do that after finishing a game like this (on Saturday).
“Give me a little bit of time‚ maybe four days‚ and then call me again probably I will have an answer.
“At the moment you must understand that I can’t deliver a headline that you can you use around three weeks before we go to the final.
“We are happy to have this performance in this result and in the end qualify for the final.”
The German-born mentor said what is important to him is the next match instead of thinking about where the club was coming from.
“I don’t really have time to think about when last we won the cup.
"It’s not what I’m paid for. I’m looking at what happened today and looking forward to do better.”
Chiefs were involved in two cup finals in 2015 when Steve Komphela was the coach but they lost both against Mamelodi Sundowns (Telkom TKO) and Ajax Cape Town (MTN8).