Johannesburg - To suggest he is fast beginning to sound like a broken record will be a bit too harsh on Steve Komphela.
But lately the Kaizer Chiefs coach could well skip a post-match conference and the newshounds would still have something to write about – Komphela literally saying the same things over and over again, match after match.
And it is not for a lack of words, Komphela is arguably the PSL’s most eloquent coach. But when your team does the same thing all the time, a coach can only say so much.
In Komphela’s case, it is the club’s continued failure to turn their dominant play into wins that has seen him sound like he’s speaking from a rehearsed script whenever he addresses his post-match interviews.
He was at it again on Tuesday night at the Mbombela Stadium after Amakhosi failed again to kill off a match – Chiefs being held 2-2 by Mpumalanga Black Aces.
Those now common phrases “our defence could have done better”, “we should have buried the chances” and what is fast becoming a “Khompelaism”.
“I must take the pressure” echoed down the passageways of the stadium as Komphela gave a post-mortem of a match that saw Chiefs’ winless run in all competitions extend to eight matches.
While many will remember the match for Chiefs’ failure to hold on to their lead and allow Aces an equaliser in injury time, he was waxing lyrical about his team’s overall performance.
“Our performance was top class. This result was not a true reflection of our performance. I must acknowledge that (Bernard) Parker gave a great game, he did very well – the balls brought up in the air he competed and brought them down on his chest; he linked up well and he passed well,” Komphela said.
“The front four, they played a great game. It was nice to see. And also (Lucky) Baloyi behind them, he came up nicely.
“The only thing we need to do is to manage the defence, we should not concede goals and we’ll be okay. Because Chiefs play a great game, all the matches we played – you can go back to all the matches – we play a fantastic game but we just need to secure the result.”
That failure to secure the game did not bring any relief from the pressure Komphela has been under, since he took over the Chiefs job.
Not that it bothers him one bit.
While he has stayed true to the course, the results have not been forthcoming and as a result, Chiefs will finish this season without any silverware. Fortunately for him, club boss Kaizer Motaung has said he will not be reacting to the pressure from the fans.
And Komphela is clearly not reacting to it too.
“But we enjoy it (pressure), and you get addicted to pressure. And the minute you get addicted to pressure, you don’t feel it,” Komphela said.
The Chiefs fans, no doubt irked at seeing Mamelodi Sundowns running away with their title, are the ones feeling the pressure it would seem. - Cape Times