As Kaizer Chiefs drop to eighth, Johnson still has hope for Caf ambitions

Despite the team’s recent poor form, Kaizer Chiefs caretaker coach Cavin Johnson has not given up on continental football next season.

The coach said his team, wallowing in eighth place with 30 points and with seven matches left, will push for the DStv Premiership top three to qualify for either the Caf Champions League or Confederation Cup. Chiefs have picked up one victory in their last seven games and were stunned 2-0 by Chippa United at a sold-out 16,000-seater Buffalo City Stadium in East London on Saturday, a result that saw them drop from seventh place to a position above the bottom half.

It was their second successive league defeat, coming after the 1-0 loss against Stellenbosch FC at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday. Amakhosi's form has raised concerns among Chiefs supporters not just on their team's aim of playing in Africa, but even qualifying for next season's MTN8. Ailing Chiefs are in their ninth season trophyless in 2023-24. 

Since reaching the Champions League final in 2020, Amakhosi have been unable to qualify for Africa's premium interclub competition, with rivals Mamelodi Sundowns leading the race in that regard. The Brazilians, 2016 Champions League winners, regularly progress past the group stage and this weekend reached the semifinals again with their home leg (3-2 on aggregate) win against Tanzania's Young Africans on Friday.

But Johnson says it is too early for Chiefs fans to push the panic button with 21 points to play for, where a good run could see his side overtake clubs such as Sekhukhune United, Orlando Pirates, SuperSport United and Stellenbosch above them. Chiefs are seven points adrift of third-placed Orlando Pirates, who occupy the last continental spot. 

“Yes, it is a tall order, but we will plan until the fat lady sings because you don’t know what will happen to the other teams above us,” Johnson said. “We have to compete until the last, the league is at 30 games. Until that last game I don’t think we comment about whether we will play in Africa or not.”

Chiefs have lacked a player who they can depend on to shoulder scoring responsibilities upfront and conjure moments of brilliance in attack. This was evident against Chippa as they created 18 chances but managed only three on target.

This difficulty in scoring and not having a talisman have affected their ability to win matches all season and Johnson said Chiefs' woes in attack have to be remedied if they are to make inroads in qualifying for continental football. He said he and his coaching staff have to work on Chiefs' mistakes being made in the final third by their existing players to avoid dropping out of the top eight.

“We have to do an analysis and show the players those moments and rectify how they can do better in those positions. 

“We've lost back-to-back games. We need to look at how we lost and how we conceded. And we need to also understand where we're coming from and also understand what lies ahead of us. We've got seven games left. We have got to take ourselves out of this position.

“It's only the 30 to 40 people who work with the team who have to take ourselves out of that so we can give ours supporters a breath of fresh air and something to smile for.”

Chiefs are out of the Nedbank Cup, so are not involved in this week's quarterfinals. Their next match is against Richards Bay FC at King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban on April 20.