Opinion: Is Kaizer Chiefs Football Club a sporting institution or a crèche?
Kaizer Chiefs fans don’t need to be reminded of the club’s long trophy drought. There are, however, even more pressing issues holding them back.
Kaizer Chiefs fans don’t need to be reminded of the club’s long trophy drought. There are, however, even more pressing issues holding them back.
KAIZER CHIEFS NEED TO STOP TOLERATING PASSENGERS
Look around the world and elite football clubs hardly have any time for prima donnas or bratty behaviour. Of course, there is some leeway given to superstar players from time to time, but that hinges on those players performing and producing the goods. In Netflix’s superb ‘The Last Dance’, we saw how the Chicago Bulls gave Dennis Rodman ‘time off’ from basketball to let off some steam and do some partying. But guess what? When he was back on the court, he delivered the goods, becoming a key component of a winning dynasty. Not only Michael Jordan made that team tick.
NO REPERCUSSIONS FOR POOR PERFORMANCES
Whatever’s happening at Chiefs isn’t working, that much is obvious. There’s time for them to turn the tide, but they absolutely must stop tolerating complacency and a lack of ambition in players. Because of the relatively poor state of the squad, a player can drop a terrible performance a the weekend and keep his place for the following match. That’s for several reasons. Firstly, there’s no depth in the squad and secondly, interim boss Cavin Johnson seems afraid to upset some of the egos in the group. These are senior, highly-paid professionals, not impressionable children. They should be treated as such.
THE CLUB DESERVES BETTER FROM ITS SEASONED PROS
Itumeleng Khune and Keagan Dolly, Chiefs’ two best-paid stars, have both been well below their best in the past few campaigns. Shouldn’t the senior, more established stars be setting an example with consistency, quality performances and exemplary behaviour?
SEASON DRIFTING INTO NOTHINGNESS
The Glamour Boys lie eighth in the table with 30 points after 23 matches. They slumped to their ninth defeat of the campaign last time out against Chippa, leaving them looking over their shoulder in the race for a top-eight finish and a spot in next season’s MTN8. They’ve fired blanks in their last three league matches and only won one of their last eight. That’s closer to relegation form than the momentum of a team chasing the CAF Champions League.
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