BOOGATE EXCLUSIVE: Baxter is SERIOUS about those Kaizer Chiefs quit threats: It's all about respect for South Africa's No1 coach

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Deadly serious: Baxter could quit over Nkhatha's treatment

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AS BOOGATE broke across the internet on Sunday after Stuart Baxter's astonishing post-match interview in Polokwane on Saturday night, the real question became clear: was the coach of unbeaten runaway leaders Kaizer Chiefs REALLY threatening to quit over the booing of non-scoring striker Kingston Nkhatha?

It certainly sounded that way (see previous post), and I wasn't comfortable going along that line without speaking to Stuart himself. I started off on the wrong foot with him nearly three years ago, questioning his CV and commitment.

I was badly wrong and said so, we enjoyed a very public apology and reconciliation (google it, it's on YouTube). Today, in a PSL where NINE of the 16 coaches have already shifted hot-seats this season (I broke the story of Ernst Middendorp's departure from Bloemfontein Celtic last night), Baxter is, by some margin, the longest surviving boss. He's finished first and second in two seasons and is now top of the PSL by 13 points, uneaten in 16 games, eager to set up an academy system at Naturena and has never been more successful.


We get on well. There is a common bond, two Englishmen loving the new South Africa, eager to put our football up where it belongs; developing talent, exposing dodgy practices and putting our cards on the table even when it hurts.


Baxter should be the most secure man in football management WORLD WIDE given his current record. No other league globally offers unbeaten leaders 13 points clear as we near the halfway point of the season. But a long chat on on Sunday afternoon did little to dispel the feeling that Baxter will NOT BACK DOWN over Nkhatha's treatement by "an idiotic minority" of the AmaKhosi - and other issues to do with respect at the club.

Baxter to the future: Stuart and me

I cannot reveal all that was said between us, Suffice to say the conversation came close to the chats I used to have with Roger de Sa when he was reaching cup final after cup final at Orlando Pirates and surviving serious African Champions League challenges.


But like Roger, Stuart is not comfortable with much that is going on around him. He should be, but he isn't. Too much "bullshit", too many "sinister forces" - though he insists team selection, if not player recruitment, remains ENTIRELY in his hands.


There are issues over how his squad is treated, over what his players are expected to do before vital games, about how his advice is treated by officials at Kaizer Chiefs.

Baxter has compiled expert documentation on pre-match preparation - just being on your feet and travelling on a bus can impact on performance - and a guide to how a young player should grow up from 13 if he wants to become a top professional in the gold-and-black. But he feels that guidance - and the academy he was hoping to restore to glory after age-cheating scandals four years ago - is going nowhere.

The word that crops up again and again is RESPECT. Respect is everything to the man from Wolverhampton, who grew up in a football family (he remembers vividly when his dad Bill was over-looked for the Aston Villa hot-seat, he walked away rather than taking a job for life at the club) and has plied his trade all over the world.

Any doubts about his willingness to quit over Nkhatha's treatment are quickly dispelled: “I stand by what I said. If people boo my players, if they won’t respect their own team, I will be forced to leave Kaizer Chiefs.”

Baxter, who used the word “idiots” to describe those booing Zimbabwean Nkhatha, 29, after the 1-0 win over Chippa United at Polokwane on Saturday, said: “It sounded like a threat to resign? It was meant to sound like that. Honestly Neal, use this as you want. I’m in a pretty strong position at the moment.

“We’ve tried everything. Appeals to the crowd, campaigns, posters. The team don’t look forward to playing in Polokwane. That’s what it is at the moment. I won't apologise for using the word idiots. It was said in the heat of the moment but it applies to those who boo their own player.

“If you don’t respect the players, you may lose the coach. Is that over the top? Probably. The sensible ones have to pull them in line, there were a few telling them to be quiet.

“There’s an element in there, Kingston plays well, can’t buy a goal. Why? He’s strong but he isn’t deaf. He’s s****ing himself everytime he’s in a scoring position. I’ve just watched Sunderland West Ham, 1-1, Jozi Altidor (USA international) has a chance the same as Kingston’s, falls over himself, misses.

“He cost them a packet with that miss on Saturday. Is there booing? Insulting behaviour? No. Supporter is the term. It contains the word SUPPORT. Not a slaughterer, a supporter. I can tell you without fear of contradiction: KINGSTON DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE BOOED. He’s a great lad, hard-working, a real team player."


Baxter agrees Nkatha's return of one goal this season is not acceptable. But he insists Kingston remains the best choice for his all-conquering Chiefs this season. He understands questioning of his selection processes, but refuses to accept "home" fans at the Peter Mokabe booing their own - and it's not just Nkhatha who suffers.

Baxter, choosing his words carefully, says: “Look, when I say idiots, it’s a minority. I could see many of the real supporters telling them to stop it. Most of the real AmaKhosi. What I can’t accept is these others, they just don’t get it. They don’t understand the damage they’re doing by targeting a player.

“It’s not just a boo when they make a mistake, it’s constant targeting of a player, it brings down confidence, affects the WHOLE TEAM. Even when they’re warming up in Polokwane, the substitutes are getting abuse.

“It’s my job to protect my players. I have to speak out. It’s my job. Some people love this, will use it to destabilise my side. But if they don’t  get it when I’ve won 16 games on the trot. In the African Champions League they will intimidate the opposition, not their own players. We will travel north facing plenty of booing from the opposition fans. That's how football SHOULD be.

“If people can’t respect what I say, then so be it. I have adapted to South Africa, just like I did in Scandinavia, the USA, Japan. My style of management here is very different to what it was in Sweden or Finland, Japan or England. I can put up with a lot. But if they carry on booing, that’s it. I will go.”


With a double-header to come in Polokwane - soon to be known as Booburg - tomorrow, Baxter will be listening. His table-toppers play Free State Stars at 6pm after the Reconciliation Day opener between the real home team, Polokwane City and AmaTuks at 3pm.


If the boo-boys go for Nkhatha again, Baxter will not back down. At the very least, he will demand an end to "home" games in Polokwane. At worst, he could even walk away. The idiots have been warned. If you are REALLY an AmaKhosi fan, back Nkhatha. Back your runaway PSL leaders. Or risk losing everything.

I'VE GOT TO MAKE A DECISION: unbeaten Stuart Baxter on the boo boys at Kaizer Chiefs

ONE GOAL: Kaizer Chiefs striker Kingston "Boo" Nkhatha
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STUART BAXTER’S post-match interview was chilling. Much more than a simple rant. Nobody else appears to have picked up the full impact of his frustration with the Kaizer Chiefs boo boys in Polokwane. Here it is, word for word:

“I’ll be very honest, I’m tired of it. I’m tired of it. I’ve got to make a decision. Do I want to continue working at a club where you don’t know if your best players are going to be depressed because of some idiots in the crowd?

“I’ve got to make a decision. And maybe that decision is: I DON’T WANT TO DO IT."

Yes, a threat to quit, moments after Saturday’s 1-0 win over Chippa United at the Peter Mokabe Stadium a venue where, he admits: “I don’t like coming.”

And this from a man who had just recorded his 16th League game undefeated. Shocking … but not unprecedented.

In March, when Chiefs looked like they were going to walk away with a second successive title, Baxter said much the same after his non-scoring striker Kingston Nkhatha was – once again - booed in Polokwane.

I spoke to him after that initial outburst. Go google my name and his to find the details, the video, the frustration. And we’re right back there. A coach who should be cockahoop after the strongest possible start to the season finds himself bewildered by his club’s ungrateful fans, or “idiots” in his words.

The AmaKhosi have a point of course. Fans always do. On Saturday, Nkhatha had at least two excellent chances to add to the solitary goal he’s managed all season. They all went straight to the keeper. Bernard Parker, the PSL’s Golden Boot with just 10 last season, scored the winner, bringing his tally to a meagre three.

Kaizer Chiefs have gone surging further ahead than ANY other club in world football right now with the minimum of goals and the minimum of fuss. Their crusade has been based around goals from midfield (George Lebese and Reneilwe Letsholonyane have both scored 5, Mandla Masango has 4) with the occasional vital contribution from their centre-backs at set-pieces.

A serious boos problem: Nkhatha and Baxter

It’s not the most attractive style. But, by George, it works. In effect, Baxter has been verging on the controversial Spain formation with the “false No 9”. At Euro 2012, Vicente del Bosque discarded Fernando Torres for Cesc Fabregas and confounded the opposing centre-halves looking to mark the out-and-out scorer.

In truth, Nkhatha is the spearhead, but often he is tracking back, making the early challenge from the long ball, while Parker – who hadn’t scored AT ALL until his brace against Bidvest Wits a fortnight ago – lurks in peripheral areas, only recently breaking in to the box with the late run.

All of which leaves the two Georges – Lebese and Maluleka – with Masango, Siphiwe Tshabalala and Yeye to score from wide or deep and extend the apparently endless unbeaten run.

Chelsea, whose own run in the English Premier League ended against Newcastle a week ago, wouldn’t dare to try such a system without Diego Costa. Real Madrid, with 20 wins on the trot, rely on Cristiano Ronaldo to break records. Bayern Munich have Mario Götze. Barcelona have Luis Suarez when Lionel Messi and Neymar Junior don’t weigh in.

But Kaizer Chiefs have Nkhatha. A 29-year-old Zimbabwean warhorse who has NEVER been prolific in a career going back to his 41 games and just FIVE goals for Free State Stars between 2007 and 2011.

Chiefs haven’t scored a lot. 24 in 16 unbeaten games is a remarkably miserly tally for our runaway PSL leaders. It would barely get them in the top five in Spain, England or Germany. But add their MTN8 triumph and the Telkom KO “draw” (they were eliminated on penalties by Platinum Stars) and they haven’t lost in 22 games this season.

That form is unquestionable. Indisputable. You can understand why Baxter gets so frustrated. Having won the PSL in his opening season – a first for a foreign coach in South Africa – they finished second last season after a remarkable collapse with the injured Parker losing his scoring boots.

This season, with the African Champions League campaign looming, Baxter has had to make do without star goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune – back on the bench for the first time since early September on Saturday – and expensive striker Katlego “Killer” Mphela. And he has surpassed all expectations.

But still the AmaKhosi boo. Especially in that far northern outpost Polokwane, a home from home for the Chiefs.

Baxter told me: "Fans who boo their own players when we are top of the League? Who boos a player who works as hard as Nkatha? Deplorable. I don't understand it.

"My assistant Doctor Khumalo feels we should bring legends to educate the fans, but I don't see why. We go to Polokwane to show them our team, we don't go to get our players booed by our fans."

Chiefs play modest Free State Stars on Tuesday night in a bid to move their record beyond WWWWWWWWDDWDWWDW to a phenomenal SEVENTEEN unbeaten. Orlando Pirates’ unbeaten run reads DW. Think about it. Do the AmaKhosi REALLY have to boo their non-scoring striker?

Just look at Eric Tinkler’s Buccaneers. They were goalless against former boss Roger de Sa’s weakened Ajax Cape Town for 55 minutes.

Then Lennox Bacela asked to come off, and the bench panicked. For three long minutes Pirates played with ten men. And then the unthinkable happened: Kermit Erasmus came on to join Lehlohonolo Majoro. The dynamic duo I told Vladimir Vermecovic to use for months had finally come together.

Just last week, Tinkler was telling us they were “too similar to play together” but more by luck than judgement Majoro produced the first – an own goal – bouncing it in off post and the back of Finnish goalkeeper Ansi Jaakkola. Seconds later Major made it 2-0. Erasmus forced the corner converted by Siya Sangweni and then added a remarkably calm fourth himself.

In half-an-hour, Tinkler had gone from caretaker villain to pantomime hero, thanks to a tactical change which was forced upon him. Two hours after Baxter’s rant, he was telling us how crucial Erasmus’s goal was after those misses against Sundowns last week.

Not the best from a coach under pressure. Kermit’s talent was never in question, surely? Tinkler’s selection process, like VV’s is what should be under scrutiny.

Best in the world? Kaizer Chiefs after 16 games

Still, Tinkler did better than Pitso Mosimane after his reigning champions had been held 1-1 at lowly Amatuks. Sullen and sulky, he gave the post-match interview from hell.

Watching Roger de Sa after he’d been hammered by his old mate Tinkler and Sammy Troughton trying to explain his feelings on PSL referees it strikes you: our PSL coaches are dragged before the microphone too quickly. Not even an ad break and the post-match interrogation is upon them. In Europe they have a period to consider, calm down.

Perhaps that’s why Baxter, Tinkler, De Sa and Mosimane are the talking points of a fascinating weekend. My view? Coaches opinions are paramount. But that doesn’t mean the fans can’t express themselves. They pay for that privilege.

You can read my Neal and Pray column in www.thenewage.co.za every Tuesday. And follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol... coming on January 5? A new football show with Mark Fish. Watch this space.