Johnson backtracks on statement that Kaizer Chiefs players were ‘arguing’

Kaizer Chiefs interim coach Cavin Johnson has backtracked on his statement that his players were “arguing in the changeroom” after their 1-0 DStv Premiership defeat against Richards Bay FC at King Zwelithini Stadium two weekends ago.

That was Chiefs’ third league defeat in a row as a run of poor results in 2024 saw them drop out of the top eight to ninth. Amakhosi bounced back and re-entered the top half, with their 2-1 win against SuperSport United at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.

After their win, Johnson backtracked on the statement that his players were arguing after the defeat against Bay.

It seemed clear at the time to most that the coach was trying to convey that his players were not happy with themselves after missing a number of chances against the KwaZulu-Natal team. Johnson, though — whose casual manner in press conferences can lead to misplaced or misunderstood statements — seemed concerned the term “arguing” gave the wrong impression of discord in his squad.

“My players were not arguing. It's a normal conversation you have when you have 95% of the game and you can't score the goals,” the coach said.

“It's normal for players to ask each other or to find out [what went wrong].

“They were not arguing. I don't think that's the right message to send out to my 16-million supporters. They were talking about how we were going to get it better.

“And, yes, we went back to the drawing board and we tried it and trained a bit more on how they must finish and [against SuperSport] Christian Saile scores the goal he scores every day at training.

“We're happy because at least we got two goals. Last week we got zero and the week before we got zero goals, but we still played good football.”

Chiefs’ win against SuperSport was their first in six league and cup matches and just their second in 11.

Johnson said eighth-placed Amakhosi (33 points from 25 games) will be looking for momentum as they aim to press up the table again in their last five league matches, beginning with their tough clash against runaway leaders Mamelodi Sundowns at FNB Stadium on Thursday (7.30pm).

Downs (56 points from 22 matches) are attempting to clinch the league title amid a gruelling schedule that included being eliminated from the Champions League 2-0 on aggregate with a 1-0 second leg defeat at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night against Esperance Tunis.

The Brazilians host fifth-placed TS Galaxy in their league clash at Loftus on Monday night (7.30pm).