Johannesburg - Could have... Should have... Would have... But the reality is that it has not been and the sooner Arthur Zwane begins to realise that close enough is not good enough at Kaizer Chiefs, the better his chances of building himself a good name as a coach.
Granted it would be too harsh to judge him on his full debut season as coach, but such are the demands of coaching the country’s most popular team that anyone who occupies that hot seat must know he has to deliver from the get go.
That many seasoned campaigners before him failed in the previous seasons to help Amakhosi reclaim the glory years and bring an end to the club’s trophy drought that now stands at eight years, is sure to be Zwane’s saving grace when they assess the wreckage of yet another failed championship campaign in a fortnight’s time.
Still, there cannot be any kids’ gloves treatment for the man who has served the club diligently as a player in the past and recently as a development coach - not when they have had to watch in awe as Mamelodi Sundowns dominated the league once again.
Chiefs lost yet another match at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Monday – this time 2-1 to a Swallows FC side that went into the match being deep in the throes of relegation – to essentially lose out on CAF Champions League football next season.
And as he has been all season, Zwane appeared not to understand the gravity of the situation as he once again praised his team for a ‘good performance’ that failed to yield the desired results.
“I am disappointed we did not win this one. But the second half performance, I cannot blame them (the players). Unfortunately they missed chances but they showed a little bit of hunger.”
Failure to convert chances has been the tale of Chiefs’ season, Zwane’s post match comments always a lament of the club’s inability to make their dominance translate into victories. The notion that the coach cannot be blamed for his players’ failure to score goals has been used to defend the novice mentor, but surely the buck has to stop with the man in charge.
It could well be that Zwane needs to start calling out his players instead of praising them for half-done jobs if Chiefs are to eventually win some silverware.
Disappointing as their league campaign has been, Amakhosi still have an opportunity to salvage something out of the campaign as they remain in contention for the Nedbank Cup. And the fact that they face their arch-rivals Orlando Pirates in the semi-final could well be a good thing, their defeat to Swallows notwithstanding.
Zwane has seen to Chiefs’ two defeats of the Buccaneers in the league already this season and completing a hat-trick to reach the final would earn him some serious brownie points, with not just the fans but the club’s management.
And then he will have to deliver the trophy to Naturena to keep the wolves at bay, although such is club the management style of the club’s chairman Kaizer Motaung that Zwane’s job for the next season is safe.
Still, he would do well to learn quickly that close enough just does not cut the mustard.
“It has been bad due to the fact that we gave away points in games we should not have and this is one of those games. We lost games we should not have because we were in control and we created chances and then we concede two goals like that. Unfortunately football is a game of mistakes that we have to rectify and we will go back to training and see where we can improve.”
@Tshiliboy
IOL Sport
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