“After all is said and done, as a man you have to take responsibility and stop with the blame game. I was chatting to friends recently and pointed out to them that in the past five to six years, he’s played less than 50 games.
“Imagine if he had put everything in his life on hold and focused on himself and his career. Six years is about 200 to 250 games and he would be sitting on more than 600 games and no one was going to catch him in the PSL.
“This is a legacy he could have built for himself, but when he is by himself and reflecting he will say 'You have done well but you could have done better].
“I am not only saddened by the whole situation, but also disappointed with the club, him and the team managing him because they should have dealt this with much better.”
Baloyi said players find it difficult to make the transition from playing to retirement.
Sad Itu Khune’s career has ended like this, it should have been handled better by him and Chiefs: Brian Baloyi
Image: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix
Former Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Brian Baloyi says the situation between Itumeleng Khune and Amakhosi management has left him disappointed, saddened and heartbroken.
The relationship between Khune and Chiefs has been on the rocks recently as they wanted him to stop playing when his contract lapsed at the end of last season to venture into coaching and an ambassadorial role.
Khune has repeatedly said he wants to continue playing, but it is unlikely he will get another contract in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) because he hasn’t played enough football over the past few seasons.
“The situation could have been handled better from both ends. Blame must not only go to the club, but it must also go to Khune’s team and him as a person,” said Baloyi, who made way for Khune at Naturena.
“After all is said and done, as a man you have to take responsibility and stop with the blame game. I was chatting to friends recently and pointed out to them that in the past five to six years, he’s played less than 50 games.
“Imagine if he had put everything in his life on hold and focused on himself and his career. Six years is about 200 to 250 games and he would be sitting on more than 600 games and no one was going to catch him in the PSL.
“This is a legacy he could have built for himself, but when he is by himself and reflecting he will say 'You have done well but you could have done better].
“I am not only saddened by the whole situation, but also disappointed with the club, him and the team managing him because they should have dealt this with much better.”
Baloyi said players find it difficult to make the transition from playing to retirement.
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“It is not an easy process to retire. I was talking to former rugby and cricket players, and I said retiring is never an easy decision to make. Even people who work in corporate or in government, when the time to retire comes, some suffer from anxiety and depression.
“You find they have to be taken through counselling. You can imagine with sports, a lot of people retire when they are not ready. When time for retirement comes, you want to play but the club says 'stop'.
“I was lucky I made the decision on my own and I knew this was going to come. I made sure when I stop it had to be on my terms. A lot of my brothers don’t get that chance.”
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