By Velile Mnyandu
On paper, the fixture between Baroka FC and Kaizer Chiefs is a David vs Goliath match up, currently a top five DSTV Premiership team against bottom dwellers. But the troubles that Chiefs is going through, make this to be a must-win game for Amakhosi head coach Stuart Baxter.
Chiefs are winless since his return to the hot seat following the resumption of the domestic programme after the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Cameroon earlier this month.
The Glamour Boys were knocked out of the Nedbank Cup tournament by TS Galaxy who were rooted at the bottom of the log at the time, they were beaten 1-0 at home at FNB stadium. This game also marked Baxter’s first return to the Chiefs dugout since he was struck down by Covid-19 when it broke out at the club’s base at the Taung Village in Naturena at the end of November 2021.
This loss meant that, the club’s realistic chance of lifting some silverware this season was now a thing of the past and the six-year trophy drought is most likely to continue at the country’s biggest football club in terms of the support base.
Runners-up to Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League final in 2021, Chiefs are now desperate to return to the continent’s premium club competition next season, currently 19 points behind runway leaders Mamelodi Sundowns with four games in hand, they would be day-dreaming if they thought of catching up with the Brazilians.
Compounding the matters, is that two of the four games in hand, their fate is not in their own hands with the Premier Soccer League having charged them for not honouring the Cape Town City and Golden Arrows fixtures when the club was faced with a Covid-19 crisis.
This leaves Chiefs having to fight for the second spot on the log, which would return them to the Champions League but consistency would be key. Their lackluster goalless draw against City recently, left a lot to be desired as they failed to fire a single shot on target and this makes the trip to Polokwane this week to be a daunting one for the Phefeni Glamour Boys and the gold and black faithful.
It has been four years since Chiefs last beat Baroka on the road, that 2-1 win registered in January 2018 with Steve Komphela as the head coach, was also made possible by the winning goal from the new arrival at the time, Colombian international striker Leonardo Castro. It should also be noted that this remains the only win Chiefs have managed to secure in Limpopo against Bakgaka.
The clash between the two teams this weekend is that of two desperate teams and judging by the response of Chiefs Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Junior at the launch of the sleeve sponsor Toyota yesterday, they are growing impatient with these indifferent results.
“Everybody is employed to do their job, everyone is employed to do their best. All we can focus on is our next game. You know, we understand that how we play football and succeeding in how we play football is very key to making us who we are,” responded Motaung Jnr when asked about continued trust in the current coach following the disappointing results.
The club hierarchy, whose Chairman Kaizer Motaung is known for being patient with coaches but in the past four years has made five coaching changes at the top, is also under pressure to respond to the growing calls of discontent from their disappointed multitudes of fans.
“So we are listening to our supporters when it comes to the question. The mood and what they feel because this club is their club and nobody knows this club better than them.
“So to answer that question, we have to come together and make sure that we can do our best for them. And for us this starts by our game against Baroka,” said Motaung Jnr.
Baroka, irrespective of their position on the log, have always been a banana skin for Chiefs, fighting for survival inside the bio-bubble in the last fixture of the 2019/2020 season, they held Amakhosi to a goalless draw and this was a result that stopped them from winning their first league title since 2015. And it also proved to be the end of Ernst Middendorp’s second stint at Naturena with a year left on his contract.
Story by Velile Mnyandu (@Velile_Mnyandu).
