Steve's looking increasingly Shaky: Kaizer Chiefs coach Komphela needs less words, more wins

TROUBLED TIMES: Steve Komphela and Orlando
Pirates coach Muhsin Ertugral, who has already fallen

THE demise of Kaizer Chiefs as THE footballing force in South Africa is just slow enough to escape labels like “crisis” and “disaster”. But it’s not far off.

Yes, we should be more worried about our national side. Banana Bafana beat Senegal, only for coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba to find himself suspended for the friendly 1-1 draw against Mozambique for “unacceptable behaviour” (finger wagging, accusing Danny Jordaan of "not supporting me" etc).

HELP REQUIRED: How most listen to Steve
Komphela's post-match interviews 

I am reliably informed Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic will leave Uganda, where the local FA are struggling to pay his salary, to take over South Africa after AFCON 2017 in Gabon next February.

Shaky will fight for his job. Micho may be persuaded to go elsewhere. But SAFA have 10 months to wait before they resume World Cup qualifying action against the Cape Verde Islands in August 2017. Kaizer Chiefs, apparently supported by 15 million South Africans (that number is falling fast) have no such luxury.

They are back in action on Wednesday night against their former coach Stuart Baxter’s SuperSport United at what may just be a near-deserted FNB Stadium.

There were plenty of fans for their clash at Loftus Versveld against Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday. So many it forced a 15 minute delay to the 3pm kick off. But it looked suspiciously like Masandawana’s KaboYellow were almost equal in numbers with the mighty AmaKhosi.

On the field, Sundowns have been ahead of Kaizer Chiefs for some time… probably since the day Baxter, who won the title twice in three years, decided to leave Bobby Motaung’s tortured regime weeks after his second championship.

Stuart told me he would leave if Bobbytrap, last week revealed in the Sunday World to have lost millions in a shopping centre deal, wouldn’t let him play a role in transfer dealings.

Of course Bobby, without a CV but in charge of the family business with his dad getting doddery, denied him that. And his replacement Steve Komphela has been suffering ever since.

Last season, under the sophisticated eye of Komphela, Chiefs finished fifth in the PSL after Motaung decided not to give PSL player of the year Tefu Mashamaite and top scorer Mandla Masango pay increases.

This season Bobby went a step further, publicly announcing a list of 20 players he wanted to get rid of, including R5m-a-year Siyanda Xulu and other players still under contract.

There were whispers of Komphela being not entirely happy. Especially when Motaung, having promised to lash out R50m on replacements, only spent about R5m on a bunch of free signings, two Chicken Inn Zimbabweans and Lewis Macha, a young Zambia playing in Mozambique.

I predicted disaster but Komphela confounded my pessimism with a strong start. While Mamelodi Sundowns - off winning the African Champions League - and BidvestWits fell behind in the fixture list, Chiefs made a cheeky trip to the top of the PSL.

But in truth, it was never going to last. Komphela has fiddled with his forwards, messed with his midfield and strewn his strikers all over the place.

His once-fantastic post-match talks have become mundane. Sometimes he’ll occasionally grasp for a phrase along the lines of “statistics are like a bikini, they don’t cover everything” but in truth we have seen him struck down by the pressure of running a big club having NEVER won a trophy in his career.

On Saturday, Sundowns were just too good for his bargain-basement squad. Chiefs scored a fortunate opener from what was clearly a Rama Mphahlele cross. Tebogo Langerman immediately hit back with an equaliser and Sbu Vilakazi - who always said he wanted to go to Chiefs but they refused to make a decent offer to Wits - produced a gloriously ironic winner.

Komphela produced the usual dross after the game, talking about concentration and improvement, but in truth referee Daniel Bennett allowed them to escape a clear Percy Tau penalty and Itumeleng Khune made a couple of good saves to keep the scoreline sensible.

And for the first time in 18 mediocre months, Komphela looks seriously vulnerable. Midway through the second half, he threw on injury-plagued free signing Keagan Buchanan as Chiefs searched for a winner. But instead of taking off defensive midfielder Willard Katsande, who wasn’t having his finest afternoon, he benched Siphiwe Tshabalala, who can always be relied on for a good delivery or a cunning free-kick.

That was the shaky substitution of a troubled coach. A defensive move when his side were crying out for attacking inspiration.

Komphela sent lofty defenders Tower Mathoho and Rama forward late on in an attempt to force an equaliser. But by then 87 minutes had been played. On the social networks, resignation had already set in. Another defeat, another disappointment.

Shakes Mashaba may be in difficulty with the national job. But I suspect Komphela is rapidly heading for the same fate. Big jobs demand big personalities. People who have won major silverware. Neither man measures up.

DON'T PANIC. Focus on Mamelodi Sundowns, the champions of Africa. Not the Soweto derby

TURKISH DELIGHT: Komphela and Ertugral

IT didn't take long for the balloon to burst. Less than a week after Mamelodi Sundowns were crowned champions of Africa, we find ourselves asking: just how good is South African football?

From the ultimate high of Masandawana winning the African Champions League 3-1 on aggregate in Egypt, the Soweto Derby six days later brought us down to earth with a bump at a near-full FNB Stadium on Saturday. Bafana's home clash with Senegal may well be the next hammer blow, though we pray for World Cup qualification fervently.

Saturday saw yet another 0-0 Drawby, another display of inept finishing, another 90mins of curious refereeing from Victor Gomes. The giants of the PSL somehow managed to overcome the self-glorifying hype to grind our optimism in to the dust with a series of wayward shots from distance, long balls out of defence, poor touches and terrible tackles.

It got all the razzmatazz of course. While the commentators at SABC and SuperSport didn’t bother to travel to Alexandria for the Champions League final and the touch-screen was switched off, the Soweto Derby got it all.

While Sundowns fans had to wait TWO DAYS to hear from the first South African EVER to win the African Champions League, we had Steve Komphela, Muhsin Etrugral and dozens more talking utter nonsense at length on Saturday evening.

KaboYellow fans might have been confused seeing failed Bafana Bafana coach Ephraim “Shaky” Mashaba talking about “football intelligence” after their side had conquered Africa, while not hearing from Pitso Mosimane. SuperSport made an utter nonsense of the biggest night for South African football in 20 years.

But listening to the commentators (between SuperSport suffering yet another series of broadcast glitches), the analysts, the coaches and the players, you’d have thought the Soweto Derby was a scintillating display of attacking football, far more important than any crusade for continental conquest.

Admittedly there were chances at the FNB Stadium. Early on, Thabo Rakhale had no intention of challenging Itumeleng Khune one-on-one, he prefers showboating. Pule Epstein’s volley just before half-time nearly hit Uranus. And the REAL chance of a goal, when Bernard Morrison was pulled down by Lorenzo Gordinho with 10 minutes left, saw Victor Gomes, for the first time since Jesus was a lad, fail to give a penalty when it looked deserved.

Sizwe Mabena told us “this game had everything” while Komphela and Etrugral announced they were “delighted” with the “passion” while blathering on about a point won rather than 2 points squandered. Neither of them gambled with a second striker, preferring instead to stick to the old Soweto Derby adage: “We cannot lose” rather than “We must win”.

We were treated to a few seconds of Komphela and Etrugral talking Turkish, which probably made more sense than most of what we heard on Saturday afternoon. With temperatures rising to 36 degrees, what did we expect from a 3.30pm kick-off during a heat-wave?

Then we could talk about Sundowns being forced to kick-off at 6pm on their grand return against Polokwane City in the Telkom KO on Thursday. Ridiculous from the PSL and SuperSport. No crowd, no fanfare, no nothing.

But hey, how can I be so negative when the CHAMPIONS OF AFRICA are off to Japan for the World Club Cup next month? Let’s just forget the Soweto Derby. And look forward (hopefully) to Masandawana v Real Madrid in a final which could be worth R80m to Pitso's squad.

And… relax.

VILAKAZI GETS HIS BIG MOVE and the South African transfer window finally gets a deal worth shouting about

NOT JUST A CLEVER BOY: Sibusiso Vilakazi finally secured his big move

"Bidvest Wits FC are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement with Mamelodi Sundowns for the transfer of Sibusiso Vilakazi to Mamelodi Sundowns for an undisclosed transfer fee as well as the transfers of Cuthbert Malajila and Mogakolodi Ngele to Bidvest Wits FC."

And there it is, the announcement we've been waiting for throughout another dodgy South African transfer window, another bleak mid-winter for our game.

Amid the usual chaos of free signings and false rumours comes the three-man deal I predicted weeks ago: Sibusiso Vilakazi, for so long South Africa’s premier midfielder, has gone to champions Mamelodi Sundowns just as they approach serious heights in the Africa (though he's cup tied, and won't be part of that).

And in return, the selling club Bidvest Wits get two quality KaboYellow players: proven Zimbabwean goal-scorer Cuthbert Malajila and  Botswana’s lively Mogakolodi Ngele. Three international players, three exciting moves.

Amid the unseemly scramble for free agents and cheap discards, I was clinging to Bernard Morrison to provide the boost the PSL needs, his often delayed R3m deal from AS Vita was a shining beacon as Kaizer Chiefs, Chippa United and Baroka FC flew in flocks of freebies.

Even worse, Orlando Pirates cast a bleak shadow over the integrity of our game when they signed Justice Chabalala, Sello Japhta and Ayanda Nkosi from Free State Stars along with their assistant manager Bradley Carnell.

Pirates, run by ageless PSL chairman, Irvin Khoza, raided Bethlehem and had all three players signed up less than 24 hours after the ANC’s MEC for education in Gauteng Panyaza Lesufi had announced he was going to buy Ea Lla Koto in his frantic bid to get a team not called Moroka Swallows back in to the top flight.

History shows the move never happened. The R55m from “a consortium of fans” was pie in the sky for both Swallows and Stars. Khoza pretended he didn’t know much about the deal but French boss Denis Lavagne must now resume pre-season training without his assistant and three of his top players.

That raid by the Pirates left me all at sea, a bit like their apparently free sale to Chippa United of three top South African youngsters Menzi Masuku, Thembinkosi Lorch and Maselaelo Seanego. Absolute madness.

We had Cape Town City scrambling around for “another 10 players”, Chippa and promoted pair Baroka and Highlands Park naming whole teams of free signings and SuperSport United drafting three free Kaizer Chiefs rejects. Utter chaos, not a confirmed transfer fee in sight.

But Sunday’s transfers between the Clever Boys and Masandawana have swept away my cynicism.

While Chiefs continue their search for ANYBODY from Chicken Inn to Mozambique to replace the 20 players kicked out by Bobby Motaung after the end of last season, Pitso Mosimane and Gavin Hunt, the nation’s two top coaches, have been shrewd and worked hard for their men, like two European masters playing chess.

Vilakazi, a former PSL player of the year, has wanted a move for two years. Still just 26, the Soweto-born star has played 21 times for Bafana Bafana, scoring four. The move to Tshwane could be just the rebirth required for one of South Africa’s top talents, playing next to Keagan Dolly, Leonard Castro and Khama Billiat will bring out the best in him after two quiet seasons.

PROVEN GOAL-SCORER: Cuthbert Malajila

Alternatively Cuthbert Lifasi Malajila, 30, over-shadowed by the CBD in Pretoria, will get the opportunity to strike alongside James Keene and kick-start his goal-scoring career which featured 8 goals in 17 games for Zimbabwe.

And Botswana’s Ngele, 25, so impressive at Platinum Stars, will get a regular start under Gavin Hunt as he builds on 15 games and two goals for Botswana.

With Sundowns winning in Algeria and Egypt during the off-season, Pitso Mosimane’s men can only get stronger, while Wits, second last season, will be up there again, especially with Darren Keete now signed on a free from Belgium to fight for the goalkeeper’s jersey with the impressive Moeneeb Josephs.

There’s still plenty of time before the new season - the PSL won’t even kick off until after the Olympics, though we still await the full fixture list, a month later than normal - so Chiefs and Cape Town City could still surprise us with some quality signings.

Like crowd figures, South African transfer fees are carefully guarded secrets. It's hard to assess who has done the best business in a nation where the PSL executive are happy to sell top flight clubs for less than their annual bonus.

But from where I stand, Masandawana, the Clever Boys and SuperSport United are patiently building title-threatening squads while the others fiddle among the discards. 

And for cashless, ripped apart Free State Stars, how can anything other than relegation loom? The White Sangoma has spoken.

Soweto's season of discontent: Chiefs, Swallows and Cosmos slump while Pirates fly the final flag

BETTER DAYS: me with coach Zeca Marques in 2013
when Moroka Swallows won the MTN8 trophy

SOWETO, the beating heart of South African football, has never had it so bad. Ask Moroka Swallows fans after the once-mighty Dube Birds plunged in to the third division over the weekend.

Right now, South Africa's most famous suburb are pinning their hopes fervently to the coat-tails of Orlando Pirates.

The SOuth WEstern TOwnship, which emerged in 1904 as an evacuation camp at Klipspruit municipal sewage farm, was always going to be the centre of excellence. Teeming with 904,000 potential football fans - the working classes are footballers, the posh tend towards rugby - the modern game has been dominated by Soweto’s finest for decades.

All over the world, from Rio to Manchester, Jozi to Lagos, it’s the lads from the streets who emerge at the top of the beautiful game, shaking the dust from their boots to earn millions with their feet. Soweto was no different. The great players, the great clubs.

But not this season.

Kaizer Chiefs, who won the PSL with a record 69 points last season, could see that mark broken by new champions Mamelodi Sundowns, who would claim 71 points if they win their final game against Platinum Stars on Saturday.

Chiefs on the other hand need a season-closing win over in-form Chippa United to reach third - they could even slip as low as 5th without it. The title was gone weeks ago, with barely a sigh.

Steve Komphela’s side have drawn 11 this season and offer defensive midfielder Willard Katsande as their top scorer with six goals. They have won ONCE since downing SuperSport United on February 20 two months ago, a run of 12 games featuring a sole (fortunate) 2-1 triumph over lowly AmaTuks.

But while #komphelaout has featured prominently on the social networks, so too has #tinklerout as rivals Orlando Pirates have struggled to emerge from the lower reaches of the PSL after their exhausting journey to the CAF Confederations Cup final.

Tinkler enjoyed a brief recovery - eight wins punctuated by one defeat - and he will finish in the Top Eight if the Buccaneers beat SuperSport United in their final clash on Saturday.

But going in to Saturday afternoon’s soggy Nedbank Cup semi-final against Free State Stars on Saturday, Pirates had slumped once more. They needed a fantastic own goal and a late rally to see off Ea Lla Koto 4-2 and surge in to the final at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on May 28.

While Komphela talks about “playing football on Mars”, Tinkler accepts “We have been disappointing”. Together the Soweto Giants could end trophyless and out of the top three for the first time since 2008. Already Pirates are assured of their worst league finish in the PSL era.

And what about the old giants, Moroka Swallows? We all know the story there. Struggling with the R15m debt left by former chairman Leon Prins, a buyer cannot be found. PSL relegation has been followed by a torrid NFD season of non-payment and coaching merry-go-rounds.

Now headed for the ABC Motsepe League after an unprecedented relegation double, the less said about the Dube Birds the better, though I would ask this: how can the PSL executive award themselves R65m in bonuses when a club like Swallows are struggling?

And then we come to Soweto’s fourth club. Coached by Jomo and owned by Mr Sono. They haven’t won anything since the famous ex-footballer decided to take on all available roles at the club.

Never far from relegation, Jomo Cosmos face a possible points deduction over an unregistered player this week and a final battle against Maritzburg United to stay up on Saturday.

A lost title for Chiefs, a worst ever finish for Pirates, bottom of the NFD for Swallows, possible relegation for Cosmos. It’s not been a great year for Soweto on the football field.

Pirates alone are clinging to the hope of silverware. But to do that they’ll have to beat Stuart Baxter, the SuperSport United coach who took Chiefs to their greatest heights in recent years.

His side’s wet, wet, wet 2-0 win over NFD upstarts Baroka on Saturday was pretty emphatic. At least it ended the debate about how the Nedbank Cup final could be played in Baroka’s hometown Polokwane.

But Tinkler won’t worry about any of that. For him, it’s win or bust. It’s Pirates v SuperSport in BOTH the last game of the NFD and the Nedbank Cup final.

No doubting who holds the popular vote. Pirates can save the season for Soweto. But Baxter won’t mind that.

THE KAIZER CHIEFS DECLINE: 5 games, 512 minutes without a goal. February 20 since they last won. Tuesday night is a MUST WIN

The man in charge: Bobby Motaung

WHILE the world staggers to accept the fact Lionel Messi has failed to score in 362 minutes  and four matches for the first time since the middle of 2011, I have news of another goal drought which cannot be ignored. Another slump hard to shrug off, like mighty Barcelona not winning a La Liga game in four.

Let me set it out in numbers: Kaizer Chiefs have not scored in six games. They have played 512 minutes of football without a goal. The AmaKhosi have not WON A GAME since February 20, 52 days ago.

Perhaps, as the reigning champions end a season which started with a massacre, then hope… and finally failure, there will be a late turnaround. On Tuesday night, after three weeks off, they play Mpumalanga Black Aces in a bid to end a sequence which few have witnessed as gold-and-black fans.

Here, without further ado, March backwards with Kaizer Chiefs:

0-0 March 20: Asec Mimosas (a)

0-1 March 15: 0-1 Jomo Cosmos (h)

0-1 March 12: 0-1 Asec Mimosas (h)

0-2 March 9: Platinum Stars (a)

0-2 March 5: Orlando Pirates (a)

So, five matches with no goals. In a single month, Kaizer Chiefs plunged out of the Nedbank Cup against arch-rivals Orlando Pirates, failed dismally in the African Champions League against Ghana's out-of-form Asec Mimosas and defeats against Cosmos and Dikwena ended their PSL title hopes.

It gets worse. The sixth game in the pitiful sequence was the infamous walk-over against Volcan di Moroni from the Comoros. We have never had a clear explanation of what happened over the final weekend in February when the opposition were reportedly seen in Johannesburg but never found their way to Durban.

Did Kaizer Chiefs neglect to tell the islanders they weren’t playing at their usual home ground, the FNB Stadium? Did the Volcanos turn up in Jozi and decide they’re rather enjoy the bright lights than go to the seaside in Durban? We may never know.

But I digress. SIX games no goals. The last goal the AmaKhosi scored was in the 1-1 draw against Polokwane City, the night giant Zimbabwean goalkeeper George Chigovu, since charged with match-fixing, won the Man of the Match award by some distance

Yes, it was February 23 when Kaizer Chiefs last scored a goal of any kind. It came from the head of Mulomowandau Eric “Tower” Mathoho from a Siphiwe Tshabalala corner in the 37th minute. It was a goal which levelled the game which finished 1-1, ending a run of four straight wins for Chiefs.

END OF THE ROAD: Bobby Motaung would not let
Baxter sign players at Kaizer Chiefs

Much has been made of the penalties awarded to Chiefs during the successful Christmas period (and those not awarded against them), some have even linked the slump to the suspension of various match official by the South African football association on March 4.

Certainly Kulasande Qongqo, who awarded Chiefs to spurious penalties in the Telkom KO final defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns on December 16, and Johannes Moshidi, the linesman during the controversial win over Bidvest Wits in Cape Town on 19 December, were among the victims. Both were banned for six months.

My rudimentary calculations thus suggest Kaizer Chiefs have not scored in 512 minutes of football. They have not won in six games, they are falling fast, as I said they would when they got rid of coach Stuart Baxter, PSL player of the season Tefu Mashamaite and top-scorer Mandla Masango within weeks of becoming record-breaking 69-point champions last season.

In the long break since their last game on March 20, chairman Kaizer Motaung has emerged to say: "Our supporters are spoilt and when you lose one or two games, you are not good enough.”

But of course, this is not “one or two games” it’s a losing sequence going back to February 20 when they defeated SuperSport United 2-1 in Cape Town.

Motaung insists: "There is no pressing the panic button. If you do that it shows you don't know what you are doing. There is no regret about hiring Steve Komphela.

“We can start judging him from next season because he would have had enough time to tweak the team the way he wants it. Obviously we have to replenish the side. We have to bring in new players next season.

"It won't be a wholesale change like we did before Stuart Baxter. But I think we are going to tweak the squad and make sure we get it right.”

Kaizer appears to forget the signing of Siyanda Xulu, Bongani Ndulula, Camaldine Abraw, Daniel Cardoso and Keegan Ritchie after Baxter left. And the re-signing of Itumeleng Khune when all seemed lost. And the later arrival of Ugandan Sula Matovu. Read through those names, all signed by Bobby Motaung. How much impact have they had?

On Tuesday,  as they travel to play the side two points behind them, Mpumalanga Black Aces, it might be worth considering how last season's "tweak" went. Yes, Aces, the side who nearly sold their PSL franchise to AmaZulu at the start of the season.

The point is this: No goals in 512 minutes, no wins for 52 days from South Africa’s record-breaking champions. I’d say the millions of glory-hungry AmaKhosi fans have been quite patient. Not with chairman Kaizer but with his son Bobby, who actually runs the club.

Anything less than a rousing win on Tuesday night would be simply unacceptable.

SIMPLY NDORABLE: How Tendai finally grabbed his chance with a Soweto Derby double

THE THREE-HOUR HAIRCUT: Tendai
Ndoro shows off the style... and the Man
of the match Nedbank Green Jacket

TENDAI NDORO. Talk of the town. Two goals to win Saturday's Soweto Derby. Did it come as a surprise? Hope not, I've been talking about him for months.

Right at the start of the season, when the 27-year-old Zimbabwean striker appeared in Orlando Pirates gear for the first time, you could see the exuberance in the man from Harare, his natural knack of challenging defenders, finding the target.

It wasn’t surprising. Ndoro scored seven for Mpumalanga’s Black Aces in his first six months in 2014, I remember one night wishing out loud on Twitter that he would somehow stumble across a South African passport and help solve the Bafana Bafana striker crisis.

When Mamelodi Sundowns and Pirates showed interest, Tendai - full name Takudzwa - might have been bewildered by his agent claiming English Premier League club Crystal Palace were interested. But he really did look that good.

A deal with Pirates finally emerged at the start of the season - Aces claimed he had another year to run on his contract but he found himself training with the Buccaneers by the time the season got underway.

Yet Ndoro found himself low down in the pecking order under Eric Tinkler. For months he watched as Kermit Erasmus, Thami Gabuza and Lehlohonolo Majoro took their places up front with varying levels of mediocrity.

At the time, with Pirates struggling in the lower half of the PSL, Ndoro said: “Talking about leaving Pirates in search of game time is something that is not in my vocabulary.” But you knew, in your heart, it wasn’t right.

I mentioned Ndoro’s life in limbo several times on Twitter. Nobody said much. But when Erasmus, claiming he was off to see the in-laws in Holland, signed for Rennes in France, Ndoro finally found himself taking a quick-step up the ladder.

Tinkler had little choice but to pick him as Gabuza self-destructed in front of goal and suddenly the cushion was discarded for the scoring boots. The games - and the goals - began to flow.

In the build-up to the Nedbank Cup Soweto Derby clash on Saturday, many were debating who should start up front. I said Ndoro was the obvious choice, though many felt Gabuza and Majoro were more likely.

Then God - the beardy guy who sometimes still brings out the old leather football boots - took a hand. Majoro did his hamstring in training and Ndoro secured his place.

He had a half-chance early on, then Kaizer Chiefs took over and hope began to fade. For 77 minutes, we suffered out way through the usual Soweto Derby boredom with an unusually sparse crowd.

Until the 77th minute. Mpho Makola put through a lovely ball which split the AmaKhosi’s makeshift defence. Good ball, but bouncing awkwardly. Ndoro brought it down in an instant, and to general hysteria, lashed the first goal past Reyaad Pieterse.

Five minutes later, he was at it again, banging in a laid-off free-kick low past Pieterse, bouncing in to the far corner. GAME OVER, though Ndoro produced a final curling shot just beyond the angle as he chased the fabled Soweto Derby hat-trick.

Afterwards, crowned Man of the Match with a hair-style he admits takes three hours to compose, Ndoro oozed: “That was my first Soweto Derby and I got two goals. That’s something you have to admire! I want to continue doing that, and not just in the derbies.

“Second half we wanted that one goal and we got it. That goal boosted us and helped us to get another one. I was pleased with it. Control, shoot, score.”

Tinkler explained Ndoro’s long-term exclusion by saying: “Tendai’s work-rate needed to increase. We’re a team in which everybody needs to work, and we can see he is doing that now.”

Then: “The way he expresses himself is important. We know Tendai has great ability in front of goal, when he gets the opportunity he must shoot because we know that nine out of 10 times he will hit the back of the net.”

Which rather begs the question: why didn’t we see more of him earlier in the season?

SOWETO DERBY VERDICT: two insecure coaches, two poorly-run clubs, one point each

ON THE BRINK: Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler

NEVER accuse me of not backing Steve Komphela, the current Kaizer Chiefs coach. Love the bloke. Good for the game.

I’ve backed “Mr English” for years… I suggested him for Bafana Bafana head coach when Pitso Mosimane was forced out, for Orlando Pirates when Roger De Sa left, then as Kaizer Chiefs coach when Stuart Baxter walked away.

But on Saturday afternoon, after a pretty routine Soweto Derby ended 1-1, Komphela’s outpourings, always easy to understand, verged on the inexplicable.

The former school master from Kroonstad told us: “We can relegate or elevate the PSL. It is our job to elevate. Perhaps it is time to invite international officials to South Africa.”

Essentially, Komphela - one of eleven children growing up in the Free State in the transitional 1980s - is doing what he always does. Seeking attention.

His style, immaculate in dress and voice, demands that we listen to a man who ran his own talk show when he played in Turkey - in Turkish.

Yes, Komphelikated is right. There are times when you look at a game in South Africa and think: it’s too much for this referee. Our officials are neither fit enough nor experienced enough to handle an 80,000 crowd baying for blood.

But this particular episode was curious. Komphela’s chiefs got the rub of the green on Saturday. The disallowed first half goal, a brush of the hand in the penalty area, an obvious advantage not played when Orlando Pirates were through on goal.

It was Eric Tinkler, under far more pressure, who gave the measured response: “Referees are only human. They make mistakes, we have to accept that, even when it affects lives.”

To my sensation-seeking eyes, Komphela appeared to be furious with the referee not because he was poor, but because he hadn’t given the mighty AmaKhosi the help they are now accustomed to.

Pirates are run by a 68-year-old who has dominated South African football for 30 years. Chiefs were created by a footballing legend whose son makes up his own rules. There’s not easy path for referees when these two super-powers come together.

But perhaps, if you can get past Komphela’s call for international referees, there are more obvious solutions to the problems facing South African football.

Both Pirates and Chiefs have now drawn more games than they’ve won this season. Two days before the biggest game of the season, the most prominent Buccaneer Kermit Erasmus went off and signed for Stade Rennes after claiming he was going to see the in-laws in Holland.

Neither club made a real signing during the transfer window - William Twala came from Chippa, but only thanks to a couple of loan rangers who were sent to Port Elizabeth - and in truth the Soweto Derby was a mid-table scramble.

Two poorly run clubs playing average football with a barely-acceptable level of entertainment in front of 80,000 fans. It’s been this way for years. Komphela barely pushed more than one player forward, Tinkler resorted to Rooi Mahamutsa’s long throw-ins as his major weapon.

And lurking in the background, the return of Stuart Baxter, replacing Gordon Igesund and SuperSport United. Not to mention the striker he recommended to Kaizer Chiefs, James Keene, now scoring freely for Wits.

It just doesn't make any sense. Ask last year's PSL player of the year Tefu Mashamaite or Chiefs top-scorer Mandla Masango, both now exiled in chilly Scandinavia.

Barely six months ago, Baxter led Chiefs to championship at Chiefs which destroyed dozens of long-established records. He left Naturena because Bobby Motaung refused to allow him a say in new signings. Will he now pose a threat to his old club?

At Pirates, Tinkler is still waiting for the “clear-the-air” meeting with Irvin Khoza which was promised after the CAF Confederations Cup final defeat last year. Screamer Tshabalala and Floyd Mbele barely reached for a pen during the transfer window, despite the long-term injury to Oupa Manyisa and the unexpected departure of Erasmus.

Tinkler goes from game to game, expecting the chop. How he does it is beyond me, he looked on the verge of a breakdown after half-time against Maritzburg United but still grabbed a point. But he has to go. We all know that. Will Igesund be in the frame? Is there anybody else?

These are not ordinary football questions. Nowhere else in the world will you find a league where crowd figures are top-secret, players simply disappear in mid-contract and clubs go through three or four coaches in one season.

So let's look at the head of this rotten fish. The truth is, Khoza and Motaung have held too much power for too long in South African football. It creates problems for our national team all the way down to our National First Division, where Santos coach Zeca Marques told me last week: “Neal, the NFD is pre-determined, it’s unbelievable.”

But our football stumbles on. We have analysts who refuse to offer honest opinions for fear of irritating Bobby and the Iron Duck. We have former professionals who no longer appear to offer their thoughts because they dared to be critical.

Komphela can complain about the officials all he wants. The truth is, in a nation famous for match-fixing and the phantom African Diaspora fund, referees are the least of our worries.

When our own Tokyo Sexwale can barely muster a vote from the rest of Africa in his bid for the FIFA presidency, you know the problems run deep.

Still, SAFA president Danny Jordaan’s second job - as mayor of Port Elizabeth - may soon be gone. Perhaps he’ll find time to fix things soon.

Woodwork lesson for Kaizer Chiefs: a rare defeat as Sundowns and Wits move smoothly on

Never smile at a crocodile: Rodgers, super-sub

SLOWLY but surely, Kaizer Chiefs were mounting a meaningful defence of their PSL title. Last week they needed a dodgy penalty to sneak past Bloemfontein Celtic. On Sunday, Platinum Stars hit the woodwork THREE times but appeared to be about to succumb by the same 1-0 scoreline.

It took a Camaldine Abraw header to best Cavin Johnson’s crocodiles in Cape Town, where nearly 20,000 turned up at the AmaKhosi’s second home.

With Mpumalanga Black Aces, the PSL’s Leicester City, slipping up at AmaTuks, Chiefs were looking to close the gap to just two points on the top three.

Then Eleazar Rodgers appeared off the bench. Minutes later, Johnson was celebrating a first Dikwena win over Chiefs in NINE YEARS. A stunning turnabout nearly left the verbose Steve Komphela speechless.

But not quite. After suffering just his SECOND league defeat all season, Komphela said: “When you look at the chances we had, this should not have happened.

“Results are all that matters. This was about concentration, a lack of ruthlessness, mentality. Their goalkeeper was Man of the Match again. That says it all.”

His rival Johnson could hardly believe it: “Kaizer Chiefs were unlucky. I gave Rodgers a chance and God was on my side.”

Rodgers, a Cape Town lad back playing on his home ground, laughed: "I've been out of the team for two games. Coach made me sit down after I'd warmed up, then I went on and did the business. I'm just so happy to do this here, to get three points for the coach."

The pressure on Komphela is huge, though he remains a lot more secure than his Soweto rival Eric Tinkler after Orlando Pirates lost to Jomo Cosmos. Steve still has a two-pronged problem: how to overhaul Wits and Mamelodi Sundowns, both convincing winners over the weekend.

On Friday night, the irony was obvious. James Keene, the English journeyman who trialled with Chiefs a year ago, produced a goal-poacher’s hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Polokwane City. Stuart Baxter recommended a contract for Keene, but Chiefs Football Manager Bobby Motaung failed to act.

Baxter, who left Chiefs after their record-breaking title triumph last season, recommended Keene to Gavin Hunt, and with four goals in three games, he has made an immediate impact.

Pitso Mosimane, unbeaten in 20 with Masandawana, put another nail in Gordon Igesund’s SuperSport United coffin to maintain his side’s place at the top of the table.

Komphela’s men may have been diligent with the woodwork lessons at Cape Town and they were ultimately Rodgered but their challenge remains significant. The fact that Camaldine Abraw’s slightly fortunate header takes him to TWO this season (half of Keene’s tally) highlights the problems Chiefs have in putting away weaker opposition.

Though they have depth and talent - Willard Katsande, Itumeleng Khune and Siyanda Xulu are quite a non-starting trio - Chiefs struggle to score goals, unlike Wits and Sundowns.

The social networks were abuzz when Abraw scored on Sunday without the need for a penalty or a helpful referee … but their failure to add a killer second goal was always going to result in nails being bitten.

The truth is, Bobby Motaung’s failure to sign Keene when he promised Baxter he would will haunt him for the second half of the season.

The final words from Komphela: “What can I do about missed chances? How can I change it?” There’s an obvious answer. Sign a striker who knows where the goal is.