Was Gavin Hunt architect of his own downfall at Kaizer Chiefs?

There are signs that Gavin Hunt’s man management skills – or lack thereof – may have been a cause for his downfall.

ALSO READ: ‘I can’t say anything’: Hunt on his Kaizer Chiefs sacking

This comes after Amakhosi just lit up in their first game after his sudden and unexplained recusal.

Long serving midfield workhorse, Willard Katsande hinted at the team getting a new lease on life post Hunt in his comments before Wednesday’s match. And on match day, Amakhosi were buzzing and managed to come back from behind twice to end up winning the tie 3-2.

“This season has been bad, we should have done better …. we should have built from last season because we had a good run in the league, and we got a spot in the Champions League. We should have continued from there,” said Katsande earlier this week.

Katsande also said Chiefs players revel when they are happy and it showed on Wednesday.

Here we look at three players who suddenly found their groove post Gavin Hunt:

1. Willard Katsande – He was as committed and hard working as he has always been. He looked willing to help the team and his solo run where he took on and beat three Arrows defenders for pace before setting up Lebogang Manyama for the first goal is evidence to this.

2. Lebogang Manyama – Manyama was lively. Perhaps it was the position he played that allowed him to get into the right spaces to score the hattrick. He played as a wide forward with Leonardo Castro on the other side and Samir Nurkovic in the centre.

3. Leonardo Castro – He also looked to enjoy himself and sent in some telling crosses from the right as a wide forward. Nurkovic could have scored from one of his pinpoint crosses but headed wide. Castro’s work rate was also high, and he didn’t look tired at all.