The championship chat: Stuart Baxter on Mashemaite, Khune, SAFA, referees... and that dodgy start

Title winner: Stuart Baxter

THE opening sentences of my post-championship chat with Stuart Baxter were, as I promised, the most difficult. An apology. Here’s how it went.

ME: “Stuart, how’s it going? Must have been hectic after Polokwane! Well done mate, never in doubt!”

BAXTER: “Yup, it’s been busy. Hey, I had this guy here, think you know him, keeps asking another question. And another! We’re on the road to Mbombela. It’s been great… all the fans…”

ME: “Look, before we say anything, I’ve got to apologise Stuart. We’ve spoken a couple of times during the season but there’s something I have to say. At the start, all that stuff about your CV and the 4-1 defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns, I jumped on that bandwagon. And you proved me wrong.”

BAXTER: “Not a problem, honestly. You’re always very positive. I always like positivity. Forget it, we’ve done the job. No problem at all.”

Phew.

After that, it was fun. The current PSL is blessed with a number of articulate, easy-to-chat-to coaches. Roger de Sa, Steve Khompela, Clive Barker, Gavin Hunt, Zeca Marques. Baxter’s right up there.

“Look, it’s been brilliant. I was locked in the presidential suite because I was suspended at the Peter Mokabe (where Chiefs drew 1-1 to clinch the title on Tuesday against SuperSport United) so I couldn’t soak up the atmosphere until the end.

“But once I got down there, it was magnificent. The AmaKhosi (pronounced in the British manner) are wonderful people.”

I mentioned the gathering of Motaungs. How, finally, the family business had got together for the nation with Jessica, Bobby and Kaizer Junior taking it in turns to heap praise on their father, coach, team and fans. Is there another club anywhere in the world like that, I asked the man who has coached in Britain, Scandinavia and Asia?

“It’s a special club this. Talented people. Good people. In some ways it’s better than where I’ve been before. I some ways it’s been tough, but I expected that.

“Some of the dealings with SAFA are difficult, strange things happen. And the officiating is still concerning… some of the decisions…

“But for me the best thing, the bit I’ve enjoyed the most, is working with the players. I’m not going to put them through boring drills and put them in position. I'm not that kind of coach. We watch videos, discuss what we’re doing… and then go out and play small-sided games. Love it. We all do.

"These players are called Glamour Boys, but they responded so well to my methods.

“We started off just showing the players the Manchester United stuff on video, the coaching videos with footage from Europe, South America, Africa. But then we started to change it. Show some local stuff. Recent action. We ended up watching Bayern Munich.

“They’re the side of the moment, we watch and learn.”

And the surprise player? The hidden gem in the first championship team at Naturena for eight years? Surely, I said, that has to be Tefu Junaid Mashamaite, the 28-year-old born, ironically, in Bochum, the most German-sounding town in Limpopo?

“Good spot,” laughs Baxter, the first foreign coach to win the PSL in his first season, “He’s been a revelation. Always up for it, hard, knows what’s expected of him.”

I made the point: “Pirates fell apart when Siya Sangweni got injured after the African Cup of Nations, but when Tower Mathoho and Morgan Gould got crocked, you had Mashemaite.”

Baxter responded: “Exactly. When we needed him, Tefu was there. All season. It’s players like that who win you championships.

“But you have to mention Itu Khune too. Before I got here, some people told me he wasn’t really a captain, but something must have changed.

“He talks well, he motivates, he cares. Great goalkeeper, great captain.

“Look Neal, I’m here for the long term. I said when I got here I would address the structures at this club, not just the first team and the first season.

“We’re doing that. We haven’t just won the title, we’ve got the Nedbank Cup to come on May 25 – and we know how tough it will be against Gavin Hunt.

“But we’ve also put other things in place. We have exciting things happening at Naturena which I’d like to talk about after the final.

“Our young players will have a way forward, our academy is about to be reborn. I have nutritionists, a university, sports psychologists working with me to produce the next generation of Chiefs.

“This doesn’t end here. This is, I hope, just the beginning. Call me after the final, come down and see what we're building at Kaizer Chiefs. I think you'll be impressed.”

Baxter to the future: why champions Kaizer Chiefs should consider doing a Sir Alex Ferguson

Cup-lifting: Chiefs have had the upper hand this season

IF Kaizer Chiefs were to do the unthinkable and LOSE 1-0 to SuperSport United tomorrow night, the PSL title would still be in the balance.

Then, IF the mighty AmaKhosi were to lose 1-0 to AmaTuks on Saturday, and IF Platinum Stars crush SuperSport by say, 9-0 in their final League game, the side from Phokeng would actually lift the title by a single goal.

Those aren’t just three mighty improbable IFS. In footballing teams, for all three of those results to come to pass is, of course, impossible.

The truth is, Stuart Baxter has achieved what no other foreign coach has managed in the history of the PSL. The man from Wolverhampton has won the league title at his first attempt.

It hasn’t always been pretty, it’s had a lot to do with the failure of his rivals – Roger de Sa’s Orlando Pirates have been mis-firing since the African Cup of Nations (when Ironman Siya Sangweni got injured) and Cavin Johnson’s  Stars somehow contrived to lose to 2-1 to Golden Arrows on Saturday.

No doubt, in his title-winning speech tonight, Baxter will mention “transitions” and “pride” before finally being able to write the words “championship” on his much-debated CV.

Good on him. Baxter arrived to replace the no-nonsense Vladimir Vermecovic after a brief spell where the AmaKhosi were coached by a bunch of trusted former players.

Few expected the former Bafana coach to achieve what Chiefs haven’t since 2005. But the signings of Tower Mathoho and Morgan Gould – between injuries – certainly helped. Bernard Parker’s burst of four goals in the opening game against AmaZulu saw him and his side stay ahead of the bunch all season.

But the unquestionable star of the AmaKhosi’s reclaiming of this lady Gloria was one Itumeleng Khune. The One. Consistently near-perfect in his shot-stopping and distribution, the Bafana goalkeeper starred for his nation in Afcon and – apart from a Vampire-like fear of crosses and a couple of glitches against Ajax Cape Town down the closing stretch – he has been responsible for the riiiiiiise of the Zebras.

When Khune went AWOL for much of last season, the damage was always apparent.

For the crocodiles from the North West there can be only a toothless smile of “what might have been” as Johnson’s Dikwena finish closest in the League and accept extra-time elimination from the Nedbank Cup at the semi-final hurdle against Gavin Hunt’s stubborn SSU.

It’s Orlando Pirates who must harbour the deeper sense of grievance. Shock defeats against Chippa-Choppa United and Mamelodi Sundowns after the “Drawlando” stretch of six stalemates leaves coach Roger de Sa with the African Champions League as his only, distant hope.

Judging from the SMSes that fly between us, I’d say Roger is only a step short of the Sea Robbers’ plank. Shakes Mashaba is touting himself as a replacement, but I suspect Irvin Khoza is thinking big with former AFCON winners Herve Renard of Zambia and Nigeria’s flighty Steve Keshi on a long short list.

Manchester United fans were signing “We’ve got the title back, and Mancini’s got the sack” against Swansea on Sunday. Chiefs fans might be excused for inserting De Sa’s name in to that catchy little number tomorrow night. As far as he knows, Roger remains employed, insisting: "I've got a three-year contract, you can see it if you want."

So after their inevitable crowning at Polokwane or Mbombela this week, the Zebras move on to the double, where the Hunt – it’s always him – stands against the mighty AmaKhosi in the Nedbank Cup final on May 25.

Few doubt Chiefs, and their patient following of a reputed 15million, are serious favourites to add the pre-eminent knock-out trophy to their league title. And for that Baxter – and Khune – must take the plaudits.

Unexpected? A little. Deserved? Yes, though they needed a little prompting from their rivals.

The question now is: can Baxter build a legacy, a tradition? Like Sir Alex at United, Chiefs deserve – need – a long-running coach. One who can pull the club together from bottom to top.

Is Baxter that man? Will De Sa and the rapidly rising Pitso Mosimane at Mamelodi Sundowns get the chance to do the same with a full season in charge? We'll soon find out. 

A story similar to this will appear as my "Neal and Pray" column in The New Age tomorrow.

How the PSL title will be won: game-by-game analysis of how Kaizer Chiefs will be crowned champions

Every point: Kaizer Chiefs boss Stuart Baxter

TONIGHT Orlando Pirates play the team now known as Choppa United. Tomorrow night PSL leaders and title favourites Kaizer Chiefs play a desperate Ajax Cape Town.

For Capetonians, this could represent the beginning of the end for top flight football at the nation’s southern tip. Wins for the two Soweto giants at the squeaky bottom end of the season are vital and almost certain.

Stuart Baxter and Roger de Sa won’t be concerned in the slightest about the fate of the nation’s southernmost footballing outpost. Santos went down last season, Chippa sacked an estimated five coaches this summer and once-compelling Ajax have become, in the words of chairman George Comitis, a Greek Tragedy.

Only the incompetence of Limpopo’s spotty Leopards can save Cape Town from the ignominy of falling out of South Africa’s footballing top flight completely.

Tonight the Buccaneers, who travel to the DR Congo on Saturday for the second leg of their African Champions League last 16 tie with TP Mazembe, MUST destroy Mr Mpengesi’s men. The Pirates’ squeaky win over Wits on Saturday – Sifiso Myeni’s late, late goal ended a run of SIX successive PSL draws – should have raised spirits and Benni McCarthy is back.

And 24 hours later, Chiefs know that failure in Cape Town will see the champions and double-treble winners close to just four points behind with the mythical game in hand.

At the same time, Platinum Stars, who held Chiefs 0-0 in Polokwane on Sunday, play Maritzburg United. A victory for the Dikwena will keep them snapping at the heels of the Soweto giants.

Pirates then play Pitso Mosimane’s Sundowns on Saturday, May 11 and relegation-threatened Leopards on Wednesday, May 15. The Sea Robbers close their campaign against Maritzburg United on the 18^th.

Chiefs have got Gavin Hunt’s hard-to-beat SuperSport United on the 15^th, with AmaTuks to finish on the 18^th.

Platinum Stars run-in features Golden Arrows on the 11^th and finally, SSU on the 18^th.

Even if Orlando Pirates win their last four they can only get to 61 points. Platinum Stars should win two of their last three to hit 57 points (including the obligatory draw with SSU).

But Kaizer Chiefs WILL not lose tomorrow night. They’ll beat Ajax, draw with SuperSport and end with a win at AmaTuks. That will give the AmaKhosi 63 points and that long-awaited PSL title. Even a draw on the final day will give Chiefs 61 points and their goal difference (30 to 16) is vastly superior to Pirates.

Baxter knows it. They haven't won it since 2005, but the man from Wolverhampton admits: “If I’d been a fan at the Platinum Stars game, I’d have expected better entertainment. We started to play the long ball, that’s not really our way.

“Still, if you'd told me at the start of the season we would be top of the league with three matches left I would have taken it. If we keep playing, keep focused, I believe we can do it.”

And just in case complacency creeps in, he can tell his players what Platinum Stars coach Cavin Johnson said: “We will keep fighting. We have got a taste for this. If Kaizer Chiefs slip up, we’ll be ready…” 

This will appear as my "Neal and Pray" column in www.thenewage.co.za on Tuesday morning.