Share

New signings won't make the difference, insists Middendorp

Cape Town - Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp believes the squad as a collective will be competitive and won't be reliant on the four new signings.

Chiefs have brought in James Kotei, Samir Nurkovic, Kearyn Baccus and Lazarous Kambole ahead of 2019/20 with much expected from the quartet.

Kambole and Nurkovic featured on Saturday in the Carling Black Label Cup final but failed to trouble the scorers in the 2-0 defeat to Orlando Pirates.

Middendorp told reporters: "I've said it several critical times in preparing for this season, let's not go and talk about the new players. For us, of course, it's not mentioned very often, we have players like Itu Khune injured since January.

"There's no doubt Khune is the number one, he's so influential when organisation and leadership is needed. We have Erick Mathoho, I don't think I need to explain his value if he's at 100% level in terms of defensive work and if you have set-plays upfront.

"We have Rama [Maphlele] - we've seen it, even though he was with the national team, he was not really capable of coming back during the past four or five months to end the season [strongly].

"We have Lebogang Manyama, we have Happy [Mashiane] and some other players, Nkosi Ngcobo. These are for me and us the main priority, let's not talk about the new players but the main priority is to get these players to the maximum level of performance.

"So, we're talking about four to six players [coming back from injury], who will make up the starting XI, plus adding the players coming from outside, and this is what we followed up during the break."

Chiefs' first game of the Premiership campaign in 2019/20 is away to Highlands Park on Sunday.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1470 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2248 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE