Discarded by Kaizer Chiefs, Jimmy Tau tells Robert Marawa: I'm hurt but not bitter. But why did Bobby Motaung ditch him?

Hurt, not bitter: Jimmy Tau fought back from an
horrific ankle injury only to be ditched by Kaizer
Chiefs after eight years at the club

JIMMY TAU has finally broken his silence on Kaizer Chiefs’ shocking decision to ditch their former captain.

In a moving interview on Robert Marawa’s Metro FM radio show, the 32-year-old footballing diamond from Kimberley gave us an intriguing insight into the backroom politics at South Africa’s biggest club.

Tau, articulate but emotional, said he was “hurt but not bitter” about the AmaKhosi’s decision to let him go. He explained in detail how he had attended extra training sessions and worked in the gym with physiotherapists to make a “full recovery” from the horrific ankle injury he suffered in the final game of 2012 against AmaZulu.

The man whose surname means "lion" explained: “I worked very hard, I played for the reserves towards the end of the season. The second last league game, against SuperSport, I was writing an exam but the last game, against AmaTuks, I was on the bench, I joined the camp on the Friday.

“I was ready to play. The coach supported me. The only reason I didn’t get back in to the side was because they were doing so well, winning the PSL for the first time in eight years and then taking the Nedbank Cup.

“But the coach saw it all. He saw how hard I worked. Stuart Baxter told me he wanted me to stay. He said he had recommended a new contract for me. I thought I had another season. But they called me in on a Thursday, my agent and Bobby Motaung, the football manager.

“Bobby told me I wasn’t in the coach’s plans. That there was no place for me at the club.  I have to respect that decision but I must say I was hurt. Not bitter, but hurt.

“I couldn’t understand it. The coach had left on holiday a week before. And Bobby told me I wasn’t in his plans. It was very confusing.”

Marawa asked Jimmy if he had any proof of Baxter recommending a new contract. There is none. Tau was reluctant to criticize the club, he repeated the word “respect” several times: “I must respect their decision. They gave me a great opportunity. They allowed me to complete my studies. I will always be grateful to Kaizer Chiefs.

“No South African footballer has become a major businessman since Kaizer Motaung and Jomo Cosmos in the 1970s. That was my challenge. Not to be an assistant coach or something like that. It’s in God’s hands. What has happened is an opportunity for me.

“I know I will get through everything - not because I am tough but because it’s God’s will. This is a lesson to young footballers living in the comfort zone. You cannot rely on the longevity of a professional football career.

“What they have done to my career – not my life – hurt me. But I will survive it. This is a new chance for me. Bobby said the coach didn’t want me, but I have said there are non-football reasons involved.

“Is there another club that wants me for next season? I don’t know about that! Let’s see what God decides!”

Marawa asked the question I was begging for on twitter: Did Bobby Motaung, currently on bail for corruption charges after his dealings in Mbombela, feel threatened by a popular leader who left arch-rivals Orlando Pirates to join the Amakhosi in 2005? A man who played 170 games for the club and eight for his nation?

Jimmy shrugged. He said: “I have given this club respect. I have given Chiefs everything. I played there for eight years. I was captain for three years (before Vladimir Vermezovic’s harsh decision to remove the armband in 2011), I captained in four cup finals, we won three of them.”

Marawa’s probing continued. At the end of the interview he asked: “Jimmy, I wanted to ask you about the Chiefs celebrations. The pictures. Was there one person who was left out, isolated? You’re smiling, you agree with me.”

With that, twitter exploded. Everyone wanted to know who Marawa meant. They wanted to know if Baxter really DID want Tau to stay… and whether “Bobsteak” really was threatened. Many suggested Jimmy was “seeing” Bobby’s sister Jessica, the club’s elegant and effective commercial manager.

It’s hard to respond to those questions in 140 characters on twitter. But I think the answers are obvious. Of course Bobby Motaung WAS threatened by Jimmy Tau, a man I have long tipped for a political future in a nation crying out for charismatic leadership. Crikey, I’d have the man as president tomorrow and so would the estimated 15 million AmaKhosi, I’m sure.

And then there’s Bobby. I spoke to the Hawks captain in charge of the investigation in to the Kaizer Chiefs Football Manager three months ago. Motaung stands accused of corruption during the building of the magnificent giraffe-supported Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga before the World Cup.

Further trouble erupted when Chiefs played home games at the stadium, which struggles to find lucrative post-World Cup matches given the city of Mpumalanga has no professional football club. The speaker of the local council was shot dead after revealing details of alleged corruption.

When I got hold of the Hawks captain I said “you probably can’t say much about the case” but he snapped back: “You think I’d arrest Bobby twice without good evidence? We have a water-tight case against him. He is going to jail.”

I have heard nothing since. It's a year since the first court appearance. Nobody wants to talk. But I do know this. Bobby is in a difficult position, though he has never been suspended over the allegations. Mbombela municipal speaker Jimmy Mohlala is dead. The corruption hasn’t gone away. Neither have the questions.

But there has been no explanation from Chiefs about Bobby, the tough guy who once sneered: “I didn’t need a CV to get this job, this is a family business.”

When a charismatic bloke like Jimmy Tau comes along and gets on well with Jessica and Kaizer Junior – both of whom enjoyed a vastly superior education to older sibling Bobby – he is automatically a threat given the circumstances, not to mention the advancing age of the legendary Kaizer, the club's founder.

My theory is this - and it’s backed by what was said on Robert’s show tonight: Jimmy Tau WAS recommended for a new contract by Stuart Baxter. But once Baxter had gone on holiday Bobby was able to wield the axe for “non-footballing reasons” as he remains a fearsome presence within the club, the man who decides on contracts and transfers.

The last thing Bobby wanted was a heroic player approaching retirement at Naturena. Jimmy himself said: “I did not want to leave the club at the end of my playing career. I was hoping for a role after I finished.”

And what role would that have been? Jimmy would make a perfect Football Manager, interacting with the modern business plans put in place by the popular Jessica. Tau talks well, thinks ahead, has a good relationship with Kaizer Junior, who will also take a backroom role soon. 

And where would that have left Bobby Motaung? Sure, he’ll deny. He’ll threaten. He’ll blame Baxter. We’ll have a look at the double celebrations. Try to find Marawa's mysterious "isolated one".

Some will say Bobby is the man, untouchable. Others feel sympathy for Jimmy. I know where I stand. The only other answer is that Baxter or Tau are lying. I choose not to believe that. But hey, it’s only a theory.

The Great Amakhosi captaincy saga: Why Bobby Motaung should prepare his CV.

“Everything we do is in order. If there is a baby crying in the house, it does not mean there are issues between the father and the mother. The issue of the captain does not mean that there is a crisis at the club. This chapter must be closed.”

With those words, Bobby Motaung probably thought he was drawing the great Kaizer Chiefs captaincy saga to a graceful conclusion.

The Amakhosi’s “football manager” is deluded of course. But that’s what happens when you’re the son of the Amakhosi’s founder, when your sister Jessica runs the marketing side of the nation’s biggest club and your currently-injured brother Kaizer Junior – arguably a better cricketer than footballer in his youth - is on the physio’s couch waiting to return to the lead role.

In fact, if you’re a Motaung, it must be hard to keep a grip on reality 41 years after the heroic Kaizer returned from the United States and took South African football by storm.

That Kaizer Motaung is a footballing colossus is not in dispute. That Tshintsha Guluva (rough translation: Confounder of Defenders) was unearthed as a 16-year-old prodigy by Orlando Pirates at the tender age of 16 is fact. That former West Ham star Phil Woosnam spotted him playing in Zambia in 1968 and took him to Atlanta Chiefs where he became a US All Star is the stuff of South African soccer history.

The question is : can the 67-year-old entrust the running of the club he established in 1970 to his children and still count on the unquestioning support of an estimated 14 million Amakhosi ?

Two weeks ago, when Chiefs captain Jimmy Tau was reported to have resigned the captaincy, Bobby told Robert Marawa’s excellent Discovery Sports Centre show on Metro FM that there was no problem, Jimmy was still the captain, he had NOT had a row with coach Vladimir Vermezovic and that “everything is normal. There is no story here”.

After the listless Telkom Knockout defeat against Platinum Stars over the weekend, an under-pressure VV emerged to tell us Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune would be elevated to the captaincy.

But just last season, the 24-year-old Khune admitted: “I'm still young and certainly not ready to be a captain. I still need two more seasons or so before I can say I'm ready. Right now, I joke around with everyone from youngsters to senior players.

“Now can you imagine if I come to training and start dishing out instructions to the very same youngsters I was joking with? They will think I'm mad because I was joking with them a few seconds ago. So for the next two years I need to cut down on the joking and playful ways before I can say I'm ready to be a Chiefs captain,”

Months later, Khune is the new on-field leader of the Amakhosi. Backed by a gathering of “four captains” available to the Amakhosi. Tau’s name is not among them. Distrust, disbelief, dissonance reign supreme. The club appear to be running rough-shod over the truth, with their faithful millions left to guess the reality.

Just what happened to Tau? Why Khune? On Monday, Tinashe Nengomasha, the teak-tough Zimbabwean, was appointed captain. A mere 24 hours later, Khune was installed, though he did not feature in VV’s “four captains”: Kaizer Junior, George Lebese, Nengomasha and Tlou Molekwane.

Now I am reliably informed Nengomasha will “probably” captain Chiefs in the League game against Platinum Stars this weekend as Khune needs another two weeks to recover from an untimely bout of pneumonia.

The club said the Khune decision had been taken after consultations between VV, his technical team and club management. No mention was made of Khune’s admission that he was too young for the job for at least another two years. Nor of his current ailment.

Last season Chiefs, winners of 78 trophies in those incredible 41 years since the Kaizer from Orlando East came home, saw arch-rivals Pirates win an unprecedented treble. In pre-season, Pirates picked up the Carling Black Label Cup to further upset their Sowetan rivals, ironically on the back of a glaring Khune penalty shoot-out miss. Some say you can still see his spot-kick in orbit over Johannesburg.

This season Chiefs are already out of two cups and adrift in the title race, questions are rightly being asked.

So Bobby stepped up to the plate at the club’s high-tension press conference on Wednesday and told us Khune was the right choice, that everything was running fine, that there had never been any dispute with Tau. He told us: "We have deliberated on this issue and where the story came from. But it is normal to have internal issues and where a player might disagree. Jimmy is just one of the 27 players in the club and available to do duty when called upon by the coach. He is contracted to Kaizer Chiefs."

Then Bobby produced his trump card. His surname.

With these words he destroyed any scrap of credibility he had left: “As for those who dream that Bobby Motaung must step down, that Bobby Motaung must go, it is a dream! Bobby Motaung goes nowhere. I was not appointed by ANC or IFP… I will be here as long as this company exists.

“I did not apply for this job, I did not submit a CV. My father invested his life in this club, this is a family business. You must understand that. We are all working to ensure Chiefs dominate.”

Yup. Like the school bully with the headmaster father. The wayward prince with the elderly regent as his protector. Nepotism at its worst. While the thousands of Kaizer Chiefs fans fork out their hard-earned clash to follow their team and buy the new gold-and-black striped “zebra” kit, the Motaung family are apparently impervious to outside pressure.

It can’t be right. Clearly, there was substance to the Tau story. And it’s plain Khune is being forced to take the captain’s armband with Kaizer Junior waiting in the wings to take charge when he’s fit. Not a bad choice, but increasingly difficult to sell to the success-hungry Amakhosi hordes.

Bobby went on to say: "We have lost two cups already and we are worried about that, and now we have to fight for the league and the remaining cup.”

With Platinum Stars back on the agenda in a league clash this weekend, he ended with: "Our message to our supporters is that let us give the coach a chance."

Your supporters? That faithful bunch who continually talk about Amakhosi rising to the occasion? Without the finger-waving millions, Bobby, Kaizer Chiefs would be nothing. The same can be said of every professional football club.

And if I were you, I’d be looking very carefully at this quote from VV on Wednesday when he was asked why the excellent Siphiwe Tshabalala was not considered for leadership: "Tshabalala still wants to go overseas. If you make him captain and then he leaves in January then what do you do?"

No fans, no Tshabalala, no club. Start preparing that CV, Bobby. Next time, you may need it.