By Matome Phillix
KickOff.com reader Matome Phillix believes certain PSL teams “shot themselves in the foot” during the mid-season break – and Kaizer Chiefs in particular.
The Dec/Jan PSL recession has come and gone, and like any other transfer window period in world football, a lot of movements occurred in this one too.
Some deals fell through, and some teams shot themselves in the foot. This is exactly what my favourite club, Kaizer Chiefs, did. Shooting themselves in the foot.
I understand Bobby ‘Bobsteak’ Motaung is the man behind players’ movements at the club hence I address this very letter or piece of writing to him. I’ve been a football fan all my life thus far, and I’ve seen bad business deals affecting teams year in and year out, but not at Kaizer Chiefs. At least not until this very past window period.
As a fan I know I don’t have much to do with the running of the club, and my voice doesn’t have an impact, or not much if any, in the boardroom. But my love for the Mighty Amakhosi persuaded me to take this time and weigh in on Kingston Nkhatha’s deal.
I have to say Mr Bobsteak made a very, very bad business deal with Kingston Nkhatha. Bobsteak failed to foresee beyond Nkhatha’s departure, a bad decision by a leader. I was one of the fans who was not very happy with the striker’s goal return and wasn’t happy with a faction of supporters that constantly booed the Zimbabwean.
Even though I wasn’t content with his lack of goals, I wasn’t blind to the fact that he contributed immensely to the team’s success in the first half of the 2014/15 season. He visibly made the team play. I’m not going to go on about how he did that but we all saw his contribution.
As fans we’ll always have our preferences among the players as to who should start first, but we hardly go to the training ground. When we boo a player, we’re not focusing on the technical and tactical side of things. We don’t analyse the player’s contribution, and if we do analyse we don’t go to the core. We only go with the general knowledge that a striker should score goals – period.
I have to say Mr Bobsteak dealt with the player from the fans’ perspective hence he offered him a one-year extension. If he sat down and broke down Kingston’s work-rate in detail, consulted with the coach, and went into the technical and tactical side of things, we’d be singing a different tune now.
Since the Zimbabwean’s departure from Naturena, Chiefs play like a headless chicken. They’re running around in circles. Yeah, I know players come and go all the time, and better players than him have gone before. But we weren’t at such a crucial stage of the League race. I know last season we lost the League with him in the squad, but then Knowledge Musona was our main man.
Of course, I know a team isn’t a one-man thing, but what happens when players you bring in for the said one don’t come to the party? A pathetic play that is recently being dished out by Chiefs. That’s what you get. I am aware, of course, of the fact that we lost only two League games so far in the season. But to be honest, Chiefs are now relying heavily on luck to get maximum points. They’ve lost their playing rhythm and style. They just connect the dots, thanks to Bobsteak.
Bobby must just swallow his pride and admit he put the team and the coach in an awkward position by letting go of Nkhatha. If Chiefs continue to play the type of football I saw them doing recently, we might as well start donating points to struggling teams like Platinum Stars, AmaZulu and Moroka Swallows so they could survive relegation. We lack enthusiasm and the killer instincts. Bobsteak must stop being arrogant and start having the team’s best interest at heart. KickOff.com
