Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane fast sounding like a stuck record

To liken it to a stuck record would probably be a little harsh, but there was a familiarity to Arthur Zwane’s post-match comments after yet another Kaizer Chiefs defeat that you couldn’t help but feel “if the cap fits ... ”

Deep in the bowels of the Peter Mokaba Stadium as May Day slowly wound to an end, Zwane cut the sorry figure of a deflated labourer as he once again lamented a loss he believed should not have been.

Like the workers who complained about their poor working conditions and the need for improvement throughout the country on Monday — as they have done throughout the years on this public holiday — the Amakhosi coach was singing from the very same hymn book he has been singing since the start of the season.

And it is fast becoming a little tiresome, so much that the question has to now be asked if the man is just not good enough to swim out of the deep end that is coaching the country’s most popular team he has clearly been thrown into.

The 2-1 beating his team suffered against Swallows FC was the second in their three home matches that Chiefs decided to bring to the Polokwane arena.

The once Glamour Boys of Phefeni were previously defeated by Golden Arrows, their win here coming against Royal AM. Add to that the fact they lost away to Sekhukhune United just last week at the same venue and the Peter Mokaba Stadium just seems a stadium Chiefs should rather avoid.

You could so easily have been listening to a replay of Zwane’s analysis of the losses to Arrows, Sekhukhune and the eight others which now see Chiefs surely out of contention for the CAF Champions League-securing second spot finish in the DStv Premiership.

“Though we dictated terms, we were still not penetrating and creating goalscoring opportunities for the better part of the first half,” he said.

“I am disappointed we did not win this one. But the second-half performance I cannot blame them (the players). Unfortunately they missed chances but they showed a little bit of hunger. I just expected them to start the game like that. Maybe we thought it was gonna be an easy game playing a team that is third or fourth from bottom (of the PSL standings at the start of the match). It’s a case of mindset, but we gonna have to keep on going.”

The reality, however, is just Chiefs have been ‘keeping on going’ for a while without really going anywhere — Zwane seemingly unable to get the team to make their dominance of matches count into victories that would have seen them ‘reclaiming the glory days’ he was assigned to.

Perhaps his acceptance of ‘good performances’ which fail to yield wins is what is letting the team down, the novice coach again referring to the fact that he is in charge of a fledgling team.

“There’s a lot of improvement in the squad,” he repeated “More so (because) playing with young players and those who are new in the set-up is a bit of a challenge to strike a balance.”

It is his job to strike that balance though, and with just two matches left in the league there is little chance he would do that — at least enough to get Chiefs the Champions League spot the club so covets.

He has the opportunity to take Amakhosi into continental football via the Nedbank Cup in which they face their old enemy Orlando Pirates in the semifinal at the weekend.

Could he beat the Buccaneers once again like he has done in the league clashes already? He has to, if he is to at least not resemble a stuck record.

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.