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Johannesburg - Kaizer Chiefs boss Bobby Motaung has appealed for calm from the club’s supporters and urged them to rally behind the team during this difficult time.
While denying there was a crisis at the club, Motaung urged the supporters not to turn their backs on the team.
“It’s time to show solidarity because the players need the supporters most not to dampen their spirits,” said Motaung.
Motaung has referred to the team’s current situation as “a challenge”.
Emotional and irrational
This comes in the wake of coach Steve Komphela saying he was going nowhere, and the thought of quitting “had never crossed his mind”. But he has been struggling to get the club back on to a winning path.
On Friday, Motaung backed his coach, saying he had the support of the club’s management.
He urged the club’s supporters to give them a chance to “address our challenges.
“We need sober minds when dealing with issues. We cannot be emotional and irrational because we are not in a dire situation,” said Motaung.
He denied claims that the club had a crisis meeting with the coach.
“It takes collective and sober minds to address issues. The chair is a man of integrity and is not emotional about this. This is not a spaza shop. We are running a serious organisation and have structures and ways to deal with issues.”
He said the supporters must exercise patience and promised they would soon be happy.
Not a quitter
“We understand their anger and frustrations, and it’s not like we are not doing anything about it. But we are not in a crisis mood. I mean, we have only played seven games and the league is not a once-off game.
On Thursday, Komphela insisted he was staying put.
This will come as bad news for Amakhosi supporters, who have been calling for Komphela’s head and have hoped that he would buckle under the pressure.
Even though he needed a police escort after the club’s 2-1 defeat to Baroka FC last Saturday, the under-fire coach said he was not a quitter and would not abandon the Chiefs’ ship.
Komphela has been repeatedly and severely criticised for the club’s recent indifferent results. Chiefs have only two wins from seven matches so far this season.
But Komphela said the thought of leaving his post had not crossed his mind.
Positive results
“Winners never quit and quitters never win. I’m starting to think about whether the thought crossed my mind. I’m looking more at the project, you know. The excitement of challenges is that you want to break through.
“You don’t hover around, thinking, ‘eish, I’m not breaking through’. Keep pushing. Maybe I’ve got a different perspective to life. It didn’t [cross my mind].”
However, Komphela was quick to admit that things had not been going well for his side lately.
“One thing we need to get quickly is results. There are two things in football – results and reasons. People are sick and tired of reasons like ‘we conceded from free kicks’ or ‘in the last minute’. They have heard too many reasons for too long and now need results. In as much as we are seeing players putting effort [in], you need results.”
He conceded that Amakhosi’s confidence was low and said only positive results could get it back.
“We want results so we can get our confidence back. There are lots of pluses, but they are overshadowed by results. In a game of football, with no results, there’s nothing to celebrate. With results, there could be many pointers, but without them, you are under pressure to explain positives, which then comes across as an excuse.”
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