Stuart Baxter can’t promise that Kaizer Chiefs will win the league next season. He instead gave the impression that Amakhosi’s supporters will have to wait a while longer before the club wins the trophy they so crave.
Amakhosi finished the 2011/2012 season without any silverware and it’s no secret that the club have their eye set on winning their first title since the 2004/2005 season. But when asked if the club had given him a mandate ahead of the new season, the new coach and marketing manager Jessica Motaung talked about building something “sustainable” for the future.
“No one (at Chiefs) said I should win the league this year or next year, or any other trophies,” Baxter said at an Amakhosi press conference on Thursday. “We want to build something that they (the supporters) will be happy with.
“We want sustainable success,” the Englishman said.
“But of course we want to win the league. We want to win it very badly. I don’t think there’s anyone here at Chiefs who does not want to win the league.
“What I want to say is that we can’t promise that we will win it. What I can promise is that we will give everything to win it. This is an interesting job and a great challenge,” the former Bafana Bafana coach said.
Baxter and Motaung were trying to get the supporters to buy into their vision for the future and promote the idea of sustainability, but the coach will no doubt be under pressure to deliver some silverware in his first season, preferably the league title.
Baxter, however, dodged questions about being under pressure to improve on the trophy-less season and continued to talk about the club’s “long-term goals”.
“It’s an exciting and interesting time at Chiefs. They have been through disappointing times and the club has acted in trying to stop that. We have to make sure that we progress. I hope we can be one of the dominating clubs in the country.
“We have to use a step-by-step approach to our game and make sure that we are ambitious enough to win things.”
Amakhosi, who will leave today for a camp in Potchefstroom, unveiled their new signings but Bloemfontein Celtic defender Eric Mathoho was conspicuous by his absence, although they had a jersey with his name and number printed on it, at the conference.
Big spenders Mamelodi Sundowns are still said to be interested in the lanky defender, but Motaung seemed confident the player will sign a contract with the Naturena club.
“We are very confident he will be part of the team. We have agreed terms with the player. We are working on it. We have been given the right to talk to the player and we are on it 24/7 to make sure that he joins the club.”
Chiefs unveiled Morgan Gould, Siboniso Gaxa, Kgotso Moleko, Sakhile Hlongwa and Siyabonga Nkosi for the 2012/2013 season. Goalkeeper Brilliant Khuzwayo did not attend the conference, but is another of their new acquisitions.
Even though he had nothing to do with the deals, Baxter backed Chiefs’ decision to buy players.
“You don’t have to be a genius to realise that I was not the one who scouted for these players, but am I happy to work with them. Obviously I didn’t know who was on the market. Maybe after two months, I’ll know what we need,” he said. – Star Africa
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