Amakhosi are fourth on the log table, tied on 40 points with second placed Orlando Pirates, and SuperSport united who dropped to third after their come from behind 1-1 draw against Chippa. With only six games to go, it would be interesting to see whether Arthur Zwane will be able to achieve his goal of finishing second, but at the rate at which his Glamour Boys are collecting three points per game, suddenly everything looks possible.
But maybe the most interesting part about Amakhosi’s latest run of good form, is the death of ‘Zwane must go’ chants from some sections of Chiefs’ supporters, something that was gaining momentum as the team failed to dish out consistent performances, which led to some unpleasant results, and dissatisfaction with Mangethe ball.
A wiseman once told me, “Football fans are like little children, they cry, you give them candy, and all is well again.”
I didn’t believe him then, besides, comparing grown football loving men and women with children crying for candy is disrespectful, right? I am a football fan myself, and I am a grown man. Lately though, I am forced to believe he was right, because of the Kaizer Chiefs situation. Suddenly, Amakhosi fans believe their club is ready to face Arsenal.
The Fact of the Matter Is: No coach in the Dstv Premiership has had to dodge ‘possible sacking’ bullets than Zwane this season, but the Amakhosi mentor has taken it all in his stride, patiently going about his business of reviving the fortunes of the once mighty Soweto giants.
Rebuilding a club of Chiefs’ magnitude is no child’s play. It takes a lot of hard work, patience, and a thick skin to withstand the inevitable criticism bound to be thrown your way. Zwane has had to endure the worst.
What has made Zwane’s job even more difficult must be the quality of the squad he inherited. For a football institution like Chiefs, the quality of their squad has left a lot to be desired, to expect a coach to perform miracles with that squad, would be setting him up for imminent failure.
But Zwane has done well under the circumstances, the team is not playing bad football at all, they are creating great chances each and every game, they are fighting for second spot, and they can still win a trophy with the Nedbank Cup still up for grabs.
In A Nutshell: It is a good thing that the ‘Zwane Must Go’ song is off the Amakhosi fans playlists. With the team having already taken steps to address the poor quality of the squad, Chiefs can only get better next season, firing the coach would have been a futile exercise, to say the least. Let Mangethe continue to work on his project, he is on to something.
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