Former Kaizer Chiefs striker Kenny Niemach has delivered a brutal assessment of Amakhosi, warning that an identity crisis is holding them back.
The Soweto giants have not won the PSL title since 2015 and have been struggling to claim silverware over the years. They, however, clinched the Nedbank Cup last season, their first major trophy in a decade under the then head coach Nasreddine Nabi.
This comes as Chiefs have witnessed their traditional rivals Mamelodi Sundowns dominate the Betway Premiership with eight successive titles, while Orlando Pirates have carved out a glowing reputation as Cup Kings.
Having so far failed to win the Carling Knockout Cup this season, Chiefs also squandered an opportunity to end the year at least second on the PSL table. This was after they failed to win their last two league games, and they go into the New Year fourth in the standings. The leaders, Pirates, have four points more than Chiefs with a game in hand. Amakhosi, however, still have the chance to win the league title.
They also still have the Nedbank Cup to play for and the CAF Confederation Cup, although they have yet to taste victory in Group D after two rounds of matches. After Chiefs signed 11 players in the last transfer window, Niemach feels the problems at Naturena have nothing to do with transfers.
Khalil Ben Youssef and Cedric Kaze lead the Chiefs bench as co-coaches following the surprise departure of Nabi earlier in the season.
NIEMACH ASSERTS CHIEFS NEED IDENTITY, NOT JUST AN OPEN CHEQUEBOOK
“Kaizer Chiefs can have an open chequebook, but then it comes back to identity. They need to sit in the boardroom first and ask themselves who we are,” Niemach told FARPost.
“If you go and ask Sundowns about who they are, they know who they are. Pirates know exactly who they are. Chiefs do not know who they are. You can go buy players all you want, and they have seven strikers there. Now, tell me something, how is that going to help you, because already you don’t know who you are?
“There are a lot of factors, a lot of groundwork. Bring in people who are local and understand the local culture and the players’ mentality locally, and not people who don’t understand.”
NIEMACH URGES CHIEFS TO ROPE IN CLUB LEGENDS
“Give the locals a chance. Call someone like Doctor Khumalo, Shane McGregor or Fani Madida, who were great strikers, if you want a striker coach. You bring in Howard Freese and Neil Tovey because they have defensive minds,” added Niemac, who also played for Mamelodi Sundowns.
“You bring in Ace Khuse because he is a midfield genius. Now you combine those things. If you look at any European team, there are four coaches sitting on the bench, and what are we doing?
“We need to wake up, that’s why we are behind. Even some teams in Africa have four coaches on the bench, and when they come to play us, we look weak.
“Our problem is that we don’t like the truth. We want to lie to ourselves and talk about flower blossoms. The truth is the truth, we are not going forward.”
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