A familiar sight at Kaizer Chiefs games of supporters' faces having trouble smiling. The former Soweto giants have become a club most clubs in the Betway Premiership look forward to playing against due to their poor run.
Image: Itumeleng English Independent Newspapers Archives
Kaizer Chiefs’ poor run of form has forced some supporters, including celebrities, to boycott the struggling Betway Premiership side.
On Saturday, a group of unhappy supporters marched to the club’s headquarters to demand the sacking of the co-coaches.
Kaizer Chiefs's Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Jr. with the club's Football Manager Bobby Motaung at one of the losses suffered by the club this season. Some fans are pointing fingers at the duo for the club's recent poor showing.
Image: Independent Newspapers Archives
The disgruntled fans handed over a memorandum of demands, saying they were deeply hurt by what is happening at the club and accusing management of failing to act.
Amakhosi, as the club is popularly known, have suffered humiliating successive defeats at the hands of arch-rivals Orlando Pirates and Richards Bay FC.
Dance music DJ and artist Oscar Mbo has called on the management of Kaizer Chiefs to fire the co-coaches Khalil Ben Youssef and Cedric Kaze because of the club's poor performance.
Image: Oscar Mbo/Instagram
Last Tuesday, Chiefs were beaten 1-0 by Richards Bay at the Mhlathuze Sports Complex in Mhlathuze on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast.
The defeat came hot on the heels of another drubbing by Orlando Pirates in the highly anticipated Soweto Derby at FNB Stadium in Nasrec the previous Saturday.
Chiefs lost that match 3-0. The defeat to Richards Bay marked their fourth successive loss. Even when Chiefs have managed to score, they have struggled to breach the one-goal mark.
Supporters have bemoaned Amakhosi’s poor performances and pointed fingers at the management of the family-run club as well as the coaching duo of Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef.
Tshatha Ngobe, a presenter at Ukhozi FM, and Wiseman Mncube, an actor in Shaka Ilembe, are among prominent supporters who have publicly announced they are boycotting the club until there is a change in fortunes.
Ngobe said the situation signalled the decline of the once-dominant club, blaming the leadership of Kaizer Motaung’s sons, Bobby Motaung and Kaizer Motaung Jr., who manage the club in different roles as Sporting Director and Football Manager respectively.
Kaizer Chiefs' avid supporters actress and radio presenter Hope Mbhele with uShaka Ilembe actor Wiseman Mncube in happier times in their support of the club, but have both expressed their disappointment with the club's poor performance and reluctance to ring in changes.
Image: Hope Mbhele/Meta
“Oh Chiefs is dying, guys. It’s dying at the hands of sons who are failing to follow their father’s footsteps. They can’t even scout players who deserve to play for such a big club.
“Personally, never associate me with Chiefs. It’s no longer the same club that stole our hearts when we were growing up. This current one is dead, and it died a long time ago. Today was the last straw,” Ngobe wrote on his Facebook page.
Mncube was equally blunt, saying he was taking a break from supporting the club in a post on his Instagram account.
The actor said he would only return once the club had appointed a capable coach and assembled a team committed to defending Chiefs’ reputation.
Umkhokha: The Curse actress and Dating reality show star Hope Mbhele, another prominent supporter of the Naturena-based outfit, suggested that there comes a time when strength fades, referring to her waning support for the once-dominant giants.
Dance music DJ Oscar Mbo also weighed in, saying Chiefs should part ways with their foreign co-coaches.
Ukhozi FM drive time show host, Tshatha Ngobe, wearing a Kaizer Chiefs jersey with AmaZulu FC jersey underneath to express his frustration with the Naturena outfit's poor run.
Image: SUPPLIED
The anger of supporters has spilled onto social media, with some fans posting videos of themselves burning the club’s kit.
Last week, Kaizer Motaung Jr. admitted in an interview with veteran sports presenter Robert Marawa that the club had fallen short, saying management and the coaching staff must take responsibility for the Soweto derby defeat.
He promised that the club would introduce changes.
Since the club parted ways by mutual agreement with Nasreddine Nabi in October last year, several names have been linked with the Amakhosi job.
Among them are South Africa’s highly decorated coach Pitso Mosimane, formerly of Mamelodi Sundowns and South Africa national football team, as well as former striker Benni McCarthy.