Baxter hopes fans will be Chiefs’ extra player when they return

Kaizer Chiefs were among the first teams to welcome the Premier Soccer League’s (PSL) decision to allow supporters back into the stadiums. 

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The club took to Twitter to voice their joy at finally being able to reunite with their fans. But the reception from the fans was perhaps not what Chiefs had anticipated. 

Some of the supporters saw this as a chance for them to go to the stadium and voice their dissatisfaction at coach Stuart Baxter. Asked about the return of supporters, Baxter said he hoped they would help urge the team forward.

“It is impossible for me to second guess how happy the fans are about getting back in the stadium,”  said the Brit. “I believe that we have good and loyal fans and I can imagine that they are desperate to get in and try to be that extra player… that extra bonus that will support the players and help them get over the line. 

“That’s what I believe. But I am not sure because I am not in their position.”  

Baxter also commented on the team’s stop-start run that has seen them lag even further behind DStv Premiership leaders Mamelodi Sundowns. Amakhosi have failed to collect maximum points in two of their important home games – losing to Golden Arrows and playing to a goalless draw against TS Galaxy. 

“I don’t think we have consciously let anything go. We had a massive Covid problem in the team. It did not only affect team selection, it affected the games on whether we could pitch up and play (or not). That’s not been cleared up,” added Baxter.

“That has been a maybe situation for a long time. I don’t think we have given up on anything, it has just been a situation to manage and we have done the best we could. 

“At the finish, it comes down to the quality of the play in the game and that is affected by a lot of things. One of them being maybe affected by the uncertainty of not knowing whether we will play those games or not. 

“As we speak we still don’t know if we have those games to play or not. We do the best we can with the schedule that we have. If we are given those games, we will do our best to turn them into six points. 

“But those games have to be played and it is not a guaranteed six points. I don’t think anybody has given anything up, and has taken the foot off the accelerator for that reason.”

Chiefs will welcome their fans back to FNB Stadium when they take on SuperSport United on August 16.