Problems run deep for Chiefs

Kaizer Chiefs supporters must have wished they were in a galaxy far, far away on Saturday night, after Amakhosi were humiliated by a new stellar football team on the block, TS Galaxy, in the Nedbank Cup final.

Ernst Middendorp’s Amakhosi, even after a shambles of an end to the Absa Premiership season, where they finished outside the top eight for the first time in 12 years, were odds-on favourites to beat the Tim Sukazi-owned National First Division outfit that only came into existence ahead of the start of the 2018-19 campaign.

And yet Chiefs could not even manage a goal, edged out, right at the death, by a Zakhele Lepasa penalty.

It was a glorious, fairytale moment for Galaxy, the first NFD side to win the Nedbank Cup, and for their coach, Dan Malesela, one of the more underrated tacticians in the local game.

For Chiefs, though, it was a new low for a side that is by a distance the most popular in the country, but that in recent seasons has let down its fans time and time again.

This is the fourth season in a row that Chiefs have ended a season empty-handed. It remains to be seen if Middendorp survives Saturday’s calamity but at Chiefs, the problems run far deeper than just their head coach.

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