OPINION – the silence of Chiefs management is deafening

Expect the announcement of Kaizer Chiefs’ new head coach to break the internet. At this point no one knows when the Amakhosi will drop the ‘Breaking News’ strap. Whoever the person in question is, his CV will come under the spotlight. 

An appointment of a coach at a club of this magnitude shouldn’t take this long. After all, Molefi Ntseki was shown the door in October of last year. Eight months later, Chiefs faithful are still in the dark about who will sit in the hotseat next season.

It would be hard to argue with anyone that suggests that the club itself doesn’t even know who will lead them when the new season kicks off. What’s even more alarming is the silence from Chiefs management. Surely, the club should have announced their man if his signature was already secured.

Why wait for this long and also not communicate with the supporters over the turnaround strategy. The least fans deserve is a management team that communicates clearly. It could be argued that negotiations do take time but the silence from the Chiefs hierarchy is deafening.

Even if you’re working hard behind the scenes, optics do matter because from the outside looking in, it seems like management at the Soweto team doesn’t care.  At a time where some faction of the club’s supporters complain about feeling neglected, this was the time to reassure them of the commitment in bringing back the glory days at Naturena.

What’s making this situation worse is that their DStv Premiership rivals are clear about plans for the upcoming campaign. Following a nine-year trophy drought, the powers that be at Chiefs can’t afford to bungle another coaching appointment.

It happened with Ntseki who was given the coaching reins at the 11th hour following the fruitless pursuit of Nasreddine Nabi. Will history repeat itself? Millions of Chiefs fans around the country will be hoping for a better outcome this time around but the delay doesn’t paint a good picture.

Decisive leadership is needed to appease an already impatient fan base that is crying to be addressed. My only guess is that they don’t have a new coach secured and the situation is likely to enter into a stage of desperation. 

Speculation Overdrive

If the vacant post was filled already, all these constant rumours on who will be the new number one at Chiefs would stop. Competent coaches like Pitso Mosimane are unattached and dragging the appointment of new coach sends speculation into overdrive.

At this moment, a new coach should already be planning for next season and reviewing the squad at his disposal. Whoever will be given the task of awakening the sleeping giant of South African football is already starting off on the back foot. 

Time is running out with pre-season around the corner. When is the new man going to take stock of what he has and which players to bring in?