Why Zwane ‘saved’ Bimenyimana from Chiefs boo boys

Caleb Bimenyimana suffered the wrath of the frustrated Kaizer Chiefs fans at King Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday afternoon. 

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Chiefs’ attack was once again wasteful in their DStv Premiership outing against Richards Bay FC. 

Bimenyimana had to bear the brunt of the Chiefs supporters booing him and making hand signals indicating that he should be taken out. 

This was in the 70th minute after he had hurried a shot and ballooned it over when he looked to have time to pass or take a better shot. 

Zwane immediately took him off and replaced him with Wandile Duba in a move that raised eyebrows. 

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When a coach pulls off a player like that, it is mostly seen as killing him as he was already under pressure.

But Zwane has since explained why he had to move quickly to take him off, saying he was saving him because he was drowning.

“As coaches you always want your players to be in the right frame of mind all the time,” the Chiefs mentor told a post match media conference.

Body language told Zwane what to do

“And you look at him, at how he responded at that time. Does that maybe give him a boost to say ‘you know what I’m going to give my best until I get a goal or help the team’?

“But once you see the body language… getting a little bit sloppy, then obviously that’s a sign to say let me save him. 

“That’s my job. You understand what I’m saying?,” explained the Amakhosi mentor who is very protective of his players.

“We then go back to the drawing board or training again and we work on him. He’s a good player, he’ll do something, and he’ll help us going forward. I have no doubt about that.”

The lanky Bimenyimana was signed by Chiefs a few weeks after the beginning of the season. 

This was after he had impressed Zwane during a trial earlier on. And he made an immediate impact. 

He looked to be the answer that the team had been looking for up front when they solely relied on Ashley Du Preez.

And Bimenyimana became probably the first player to score a hatrick through the penalty spot. He scored it against Stellenbosch FC in the first round.