MAHLATSE MPHAHLELE | Chiefs’ leadership share collective blame for mess they’re in

Will the appointment of Cavin Johnson provide the silver bullet? We’ll have to wait and see. For Kaizer Chiefs, though, a decade of quick fixes has brought little promise.

In what is becoming a worrying trend, Chiefs’ bosses have pulled the trigger on embattled Molefi Ntseki as Amakhosi coach after a turbulent four-month spell. In a period that bordered on directionless, Chiefs won three of their nine DStv Premiership matches and were knocked out of the MTN8 and Carling Knockout Cup competitions. Ntseki — whose appointment was not popular, prompting sorrowful outpourings by supporters on marathon X Spaces — has had missiles directed at him three times in that short period, including in the Carling first-round defeat to AmaZulu on Saturday.

The league looks out of their reach even at this early stage of the season, and their only realistic opportunity to lay their hands on silverware to prevent a catastrophic ninth campaign is the Nedbank Cup. We will never know what would have happened if Chiefs persisted with Ntseki, who at times looked out of sorts under immense pressure, but even under these difficult circumstances the club must be credited for taking a decision. 

Almost certainly chair Dr Kaizer Motaung and his leadership team did not arrive at this decision lightly. It goes without saying the conclusion they came to was there was no hope, before the halfway stage of 2023-24, of Ntseki improving their fortunes. 

Even though Chiefs’ decisiveness now seems correct and timely, and whether Ntseki is an easy scapegoat or not, it has to be remembered it was Amakhosi’s management who surprisingly appointed him before the start of the season. 

And the reality is the move has failed spectacularly and the club’s management must ultimately take the blame for this turn of events that has fast become a worry at the club that last won a trophy in 2015. After some success as a junior national team coach, Ntseki gained some experience earning mixed results with Bafana Bafana during a difficult period amid Covid-19 from 2019 to 2021. But he had never coached a DStv Premiership team, let alone won a trophy at one. At the biggest team in the country, where the pressure is huge to reverse the drought and avoid the ignominy of a decade without a trophy, such inexperience could always be a problem. 

Such floundering in decision-making has cost Chiefs dearly for eight years. It points to a weak grasp of the scale of the problem and what’s needed to get back on track. How far the club’s management has fallen from reality has been displayed in their mostly substandard signings over the past decade. Yes, ahead of 2023-24 the acquisitions improved — one of the reasons Ntseki’s start has been so disappointing is he has a bit of a squad right now — but other big three clubs sign big in almost every transfer window. When you only do it every few years, it becomes, like much of Chiefs’ problem solving in the past decade, a plaster over a serious wound. 

Before they appointed Ntseki, Chiefs flirted with Tunisia coach Nasreddine Nabi, who had success with Young Africans in Tanzania last season, but failed to land him. Chiefs were known for their relative stability when it comes to coaches but Ntseki is the seventh casualty in five years. This does not paint a good picture. Since 2018, Chiefs have fired Steve Komphela, Giovanni Solinas, Ernst Middendorp, Gavin Hunt, Stuart Baxter, Arthur Zwane and Ntseki and it remains to be seen how long Johnson will last in the hot seat. 

Chiefs did not look impressive under Ntseki, who seemed unable to establish a crucial core starting line-up despite having played nine league and four cup matches. Amakhosi were among the busiest on the transfer market, with no less than nine signings but debate rages on whether the management recruited the right players. They signed Pule Mmodi, Tebogo Potsane, Thatayaone Ditlhokwe, Mduduzi Mdantsane, Given Msimango, Sibongiseni Mthethwa, Ranga Chivaviro, Edson Castillo and Efmamjjasond González. 

Only Castillo has endeared himself to the Amakhosi fans with consistent and solid performances, while the jury is still out on the rest. On the evidence of too many poor team performances, a conclusion could be reached that Ntseki failed to get the best out of the players whether they are Chiefs material or not. 

Ntseki was blamed for not showing trust in Happy Mashiane and Nkosingiphile Ngcobo and younger players Samkelo Zwane and Mduduzi Shabalala. While much of the blame has gone to Ntseki for the way 2023-24 has unfolded, many Chiefs supporters have pointed a sharp finger at the club’s management for its poor selection of coach in the first place. 

One club official who must face serious scrutiny for this situation is the club’s sporting director, Kaizer Motaung Jr, whose main job is recruitment and to ensure there is a good environment for success. Football manager Bobby Motaung is still involved in the first team but has taken a back seat, while not too much blame can be apportioned to Jessica Motaung, who is responsible for marketing.

Though change can be good, there are those who fear history may repeat itself with Johnson, who is faced with mammoth task of rebuilding the morale of the players. Johnson is not a novice in the PSL but has coached small to medium-sized clubs in Platinum Stars, SuperSport United, AmaZulu and Black Leopards. He had a spell as assistant coach to Pitso Mosimane, winning trophies at Egyptian giants Al Ahly. He has experience, with than 300 league matches under the belt. 

But like Ntseki, he has not won a trophy as a head coach. Johnson must hit the ground running as Chiefs have a DStv Premiership clash against Golden Arrows at the Mpumalanga Stadium on Saturday, to be followed by Cape Town Spurs and the Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates. 

Whoever is at the helm though, Chiefs would do well to realise they’re in this mess because of some of the poor decisions management have taken for years now.