One can
only wonder what happened to South Africa’s top giants in soccer Kaizer Chiefs,
a soccer club that was founded by Kaizer Motaung the former Pirates player and son of late former Pirates player Ceyland Motaung. Kaizer was said to have left
his father’s club to start his own after his return from his soccer career
in North America. The formation of the club then was created under oppressive times whereby then if a major rebel club such as Pirates at the time was beaten in a match, chances of leaving the stadium alive seemed very impossible. One can say that Kaizer Chiefs then was formed at the right time as its colours and attitude as well as behavior promoted love and peace and demonstrated through words and actions that sports was about comradship and unityas such was done in those violent eras of that time. The club has great support all over the country from the East Rand, Soweto, North West, Pretoria this is because some of the players were recruited from Sundowns and Moroka Swallows which are rooted from the East Rand Pretoria and North West and some players at the time who were expelled and some who were friends of Kaizer were recruited from Pirates itself. Kaizer Chiefs has had its own supporters for such reasons and has always been percieved as Orlando Pirates biggest rebel giant, almost like a father verses the son type of game they were always on top of the log niether the less.
However before last year Chiefs always won a couple of
championship leagues now all of a sudden they get beat down by small time clubs
like Amazulu, Wits, Platinum Stars and what not. I think Chiefs always prepared
itself when playing against its biggest rivals Pirates who because of its losses
against Chiefs before last year prepared itself against every team they
challenged and was even more prepared against Chiefs. With Chiefs having to
lose to small time clubs mentioned it cost them not making it on top of
the championship leagues such as the Absa cup, Telkom Charity cup, Ned Bank
cup, Premier Soccer League among others which were all won by their biggest rivals
Orlando Pirates and of which then created this negativity around Chiefs and
caused them a losing streak that they were no long prepared as they used to be
against Pirates which has taken every advantage as possible.
Well we
should not only blame the players for their mishaps it has occurred that Chiefs former
coach Vladir Vermezovic may be partly responsible for the teams tragic losses, he for
starters kept using inexperienced young soccer players in serious championship
games matches instead of grooming them in friendly games. He had all the good experienced players sitting on the side
lines, I mean I’m not a sports analyst but even I can tell that was a bad call. The
guy should have been dismissed from the beginning of this year and maybe Chiefs
would have won the recent Absa Cup, Soweto Derby and Premier Soccer League this
year, considering what happened last year and would have prevented some people
saying that Chiefs is no longer the way it used to be, “ouch”.
Anyway
the Chiefs board dismissed Vermezovic this year April 2012, and hired sports
former soccer coach Stuart Baxter along with former Chiefs soccer player Doctor Khumalo as
assistant coach. The team did at least make a comeback after beating one of
South Africa’s biggest soccer clubs Mamelody Sundowns which unfortunately
resulted in saving Pirates from either beating the them again or competing
against them through a four club match. This is where both teams play in this cas it would have been Pirates and Sundowns which would have played against two other
clubs one for each and whichever team scores against the other team consumes
more points and has a better chance of winning the league, and in this case
Sundowns would have been it. Motivated by the negative comments made on
facebook and twitter Chiefs captain and goal keeper Itumeleng Khune got back in
the game by keeping the ball from hitting the back of the net, if only he did that all along and
unfortunately by the time Chiefs made these changes and came back from its last
game it was too late and therefore fans can only wonder what’s next for the
club, they must be feeling “hopeless”.
Best of luck for the Black Lable Cup though on the 28th of July 2012, do your people proud.