Legendary Kaizer Chiefs left-back Rudolph Gardner Seale is saddened by the poor state the club finds itself in, where they have dismally failed to reclaim the glory days.
The once-feared Amakhosi have stagnated in a web of underachievement with no major trophy in nine seasons, which will become a decade if they cannot beat arch-rivals Orlando Pirates in Saturday's Soweto derby Nedbank Cup final at Moses Mabhida Stadium (3.30pm).
This season ninth-placed Chiefs are in serious danger of missing out on a Betway Premiership top eight spot under Nasreddine Nabi, who arrived with much fanfare and his own expensive technical staff but, even with his continued assertions 2024-25 is for “rebuilding”, has guided the side with little promise. With two league games left, Amakhosi are in danger of ending lower than last season's worst-ever 10th place.
Even if they finally end their trophy drought in the Nedbank, such has been their poor form at the end of this campaign where some decent signings should have heralded more, the gloom pervading Naturena will only lift so much. Chiefs have won one of their last eight games in all competitions and one in 10 in the league.
The Soweto giants may have to win their remaining two Premiership matches against Sekhukhune United and Polokwane City to qualify for next season's MTN8 due to pressure from teams around them in a points-congested bun fight in the middle of the table.
Amakhosi go into the cup final on a two-match losing streak in the league after 2-1 defeats to Orlando Pirates and Marumo Gallants, leaving them with a disappointing 30 points from 26 matches.
With such form their prospects in the cup final do not seem bright. Their one hope to lay their hands on an elusive trophy is the Nedbank Cup, the one competition Chiefs have shown form in, scoring 12 goals and conceding two in four games where they have produced upsets against tough Stellenbosch FC in the quarterfinals and Mamelodi Sundowns in the semis.
Seale, who was part of the hugely successful Chiefs sides of the 1980s and early 1990s that swept all before them to win a glittering array of trophies — an era so stark in contrast, it scarcely seems to be of the same club. He turned out alongside huge names like Neil Tovey, Lucas Radebe, Howard Freeze, Trevor Mthimkhulu, Ntsie Maphike, Wellington Manyathi, Johannes Molatedi, Albert Bwalya and Shane McGregor.
The former defender said the present generation have to take responsibility and dig the club out of the situation it’s in.
“How do you feel as a player that you are playing for a big and glamour team and leave without having lifted a trophy?” Seale queried.
“Forget about the management. Tomorrow you will be telling your grandchildren, ‘I used to play for Kaizer Chiefs.’ They will say, 'We hear the club used to win trophies, but where are yours?’”
Seale, who also played for SuperSport United, said some of the players in the Chiefs squad now don’t deserve to pull on the famous gold and black jersey.
“It saddens me [what is happening to the club] but unfortunately it is something beyond my control. I can’t go there and talk to the players, unless I am asked. I don’t want to go tactical on advising these players because they have a coach. The only thing I can tell them is that if you didn’t know [Chiefs' stature], you are playing for the wrong club.
“You have to adjust your mind that you are playing for Chiefs, maybe that will help. It is indeed sad what is happening at the club when you consider what they have.
“You have management that tries so much to make it easy for you as a professional player. Times have changed but they must know how we used to go to training.
“We used to drive in a small combi with bags at the back, but now they travel in luxury buses and sometimes they fly to matches.”
In his playing days at Chiefs, Seale competed for the left-back position with Maphike in a legendary rivalry. He said the two had a healthy competition that gave Chiefs' coaches a welcome headache.
“Ntsie was converted from the left wing to left-back and he did well there because just in the first half, he would bring in 10 to 15 crosses. I was a traditional left-back and I had to smell the coffee that I can't be beaten by a player who was converted from the wing.
If I played, he wouldn't mind and it was the same with me. There was never a time where Ntsie was booed out of the team so I could play. We are still friends to this day and we have kept contact.
— Rudolph Seale
“I was born at this position at the corner of the pitch and he can't just come and conquer me here. I had to fight and what worked for me is I could tackle and also go forward because overlapping was being modernised.
“You had to overlap and deliver crosses but your main duty was defending, I told myself that I had to be the best in that position. I don't want to say I was the best in the position but we both tried and it was a good headache for coaches.
“If I played, he wouldn't mind and it was the same with me. There was never a time where Ntsie was booed out of the team so I could play. We are still friends to this day and we have kept contact.”
Such a rivalry for a lone position between two players who in another era might well have found themselves exploring their limits at European clubs is far removed from the lack of quality at Chiefs over the last decade. It reminds of the distance there is to go rebuilding the club on the field.
A Nedbank Cup final win on Saturday against the old foe would be a start. But the climb would still have many levels to go.
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