In October, the Soweto Derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs failed to sparkle so much so that it was labelled a “drawby”. Quite catchy and straight to the point, despite efforts from both coaches - Steve Komphela at Chiefs and his then Buccaneers counterpart Muhsin Ertugral - to downplay the disappointment.
The criticism of how the biggest fixture in the PSL calendar was reduced to just another day in the sun with friends while watching average, at best, football filtered through to the dressing room. On Saturday, the players can atone when Chiefs host Pirates at FNB, with the stakes a little higher this time around.
“Obviously the fact that Pirates have a new coach (Kjell Jonevret) means there are a lot of players that will want to impress him,” says Bernard Parker, who is again expected to lead the line for Amakhosi when the arch-rivals face off. The arrival of a new man in the dugout is one of the elements Parker believes could liven up the derby. It was perhaps too early in the season when they last met and it seemed the players were more worried about avoiding defeat than trying to win.
“Our coach could tell,” says Parker. “He said we weren’t ourselves and tried to encourage us to be free and give the fans what they were there for. But I think we sometimes try to do too much.
“I have seen and been involved in entertaining derbies before, even in other countries. Lately we have become too technical and are obsessed with wanting to do things right you don’t want to be the one making the mistakes and letting your teammates down, so you are too careful.”
Amakhosi were in second place prior to Saturday’s round of league matches, and, although they have played a few more games than their rivals, Parker argued that their most recent winning streak would be crucial in adding a thrill to the derby.
“We are a bit more confident,” the striker said. “Of course there is not much we can do if, on the day, goalkeepers are on form and no team can score, but we feel the stakes will be higher this time and we can try to bring back the entertainment when Chiefs play Pirates. We had that in the Black Label Cup (Chiefs won 2-0). That game had flair and we seemed more relaxed.”
Well, that was a match purely about bragging rights and the real coaches played second fiddle as both sets of fans picked the line-ups.
Parker could use Saturday’s derby to further cement his place in the Chiefs team and prove that he has completely recovered from an awfully dry spell.
“I had to remind myself what South Africans know me for,” he said. “I had suffered mentally because my confidence was low, but once I reminded myself why I play for Chiefs, I was able to tap into my ability as a striker again.”