South African football supporters are petty

Just as Orlando Pirates coach, Josef Zinnbauer had said it a few days earlier, I got to witness how petty supporters can be on Saturday.

Okay, let me start from the beginning so you can understand what I’m trying to tell you here.

In the build up to the derby, Zinnbauer was asked about the calls from some of Pirates fans who wanted him out. He hit the nail right on the head.

“I understand the supporters… they always have different views. You meet one, and he says ‘hey, you are a good coach. We didn’t have a cup for six years now we have one’ and then another comes and say ‘we want more, we want more…’

“But we see football differently and the problem is that the supporters want us to win all the time. You win three games in row and you are the best coach ever, but lose a game and you are the worst (and should be fired),” said Zinnbauer.

In a way, I knew this long ago, but the German mentor put it into a more qualifying perspective. And I got to experience it last weekend after the derby.

I was invited by Ukhozi FM to be a guest analyst for the Sundowns/Chippa game but we got so many requests from the listeners to also make our analysis of the derby.

And when the fans got a chance to also voice their opinions, one after the other, most said Gavin Hunt has done enough damage to the Kaizer Chiefs brand and should now vacate his position.

So unappreciative. Just a week ago, Hunt was the best thing since the advent of cellphones but suddenly – after losing one game… one game – he is a bad coach who should be kicked to the curb!

But it’s the nature of the game. It’s a game of opinions and that why we love it – the beautiful game.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.