Komphela anxious ahead of new PSL season

Last season, Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela was labelled as an underachiever who had no business being appointed coach of the Glamour Boys. Photo: Samuel Shivambu

Last season, Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela was labelled as an underachiever who had no business being appointed coach of the Glamour Boys. Photo: Samuel Shivambu

Published Aug 22, 2016

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Who can forget Steve Komphela throwing an unusual tantrum in the dugout as Kaizer Chiefs laboured to a 6-5 penalty shoot-out victory over their Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates to reach the final of the Telkom Knockout last season? You get a sense there will be plenty more of that as the new campaign kicks off tomorrow and hopefully - for Komphela’s own sanity - it will be sprinkled with some silverware.

We meet for this interview in Naturena at the Chiefs Village just before the sun sets. It’s a few minutes after the day’s final training session, but the coach stays behind in his office to put in some extra work. Such are the expectations at Amakhosi that the man in charge of restoring excellence cannot simply go from the training ground straight to his car.

“I am anxious,” says Komphela. “In the sense that we have been working on this project and it’s true that last season was not at the level where you can say Chiefs succeeded. You can argue that we reached two cup finals and lost only five (league) matches. But that is still not good enough because we did not win anything. That is why we have this pressure going into the new season. I am in a melting pot, but I have to come out a better person.”

Komphela dealt with all sorts in his first year at Chiefs. When he took over, Amakhosi were reigning Premier League and MTN8 champions, and under him they surrendered both, triggering criticism from fans that he was an underachiever who had no business being appointed coach of the Glamour Boys. He reiterates that huge lessons were learnt, including which players will fit into what is going to be a much-improved style of play.

“We are cautiously excited because the biggest challenge is to think you are ready, but all along (in pre-season) you have been racing alone.

“You need the other 15 teams in the league, so that you can know your level,” says Komphela. “We are ready, but we just don’t know how good other teams are, which brings that level of anxiety.”

Although he received incredible support from chairman Kaizer Motaung, first in words when the boss declared that the coach needed time to find his rhythm at Chiefs, and then in actions by recruiting as many as 10 players to strengthen the squad, Komphela knows that if he doesn’t repay that by going all the way in the championship, the likelihood is that he will kiss the hot seat goodbye.

“If you are a coach you have to accept that because at the end of the day, somebody has to account,” he says. “And if you are a coward, you can’t live in this environment. You have to be brave, almost on the verge of being stupid.”

The marathon begins tomorrow. Any coach will argue that league openers are tricky regardless of the opposition, and Komphela is no different. But he will be thrown into a furnace for Chiefs’ first assignment to get the ball rolling on the 2016/17 season with an away clash at Bidvest Wits, fellow title contenders who have stopped at nothing to bring in quality players, especially after losing talisman Sibusiso Vilakazi to Mamelodi Sundowns last month.

“They have been fighting to win the championship and that makes matters worse for us,” says Komphela about the potentially mouthwatering encounter at Bidvest Stadium this week.

“But we are Kaizer Chiefs, and the expectation is that we must also win the championship, which then makes it an interesting match to go through. I know Gavin (Hunt) will have different ways to approach the game and they have new players that can give him different dimensions. This says to me I have to be ready for any eventuality.”

But can Chiefs better their scoring ratio as well as reduce the number of draws after being forced into 13 stalemates from 30 league matches - the highest in the Premier League last season - which ultimately cost them the title? They also failed to win games they dominated with ease simply because they could not get the ball into the back of the net. To address this, Komphela has signed five strikers in Lewis Macha, young Emmanuel Letlotlo, Michelle Katsvairo, Edmore Chirambadare and Ryan Moon.

“All of them are at a level where we can say they can play for Chiefs,” says Komphela, backing up his forwards who will undoubtedly be under immense pressure.

“Every training session has given me a different picture. Macha has bought himself great credit by scoring in the Soweto Derby (a 2-0 win against Pirates in the Carling Black Label Cup nearly four weeks ago). He introduced himself nicely to the fans and he can only ride and take advantage of that. The rest show they can fit in, but we wait for the games to begin to see what they can offer.”

Follow Mazola Molefe@superjourno

*Tomorrow Mazola speaks to Pitso Mosimane - The Star

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