Former Kaizer Chiefs coach and head of academy Cavin Johnson has weighed in on Stuart Baxter’s explosive claims regarding boardroom interference at the Soweto giants.
The 67-year-old Johnson originally arrived at Naturena to spearhead the club’s youth structures before eventually ascending to take charge of the first team during the 2023/24 campaign. Throughout his 22-match tenure as caretaker coach, Johnson recorded six victories, seven draws, and nine defeats—a turbulent period that ultimately saw the Soweto giants finish the league in a disappointing 10th place.
That particular season had commenced with Molefi Ntseki at the helm, who was subsequently replaced by Johnson in an interim capacity in October 2023 following a disastrous string of results.
Following Baxter’s revealing interview with this publication, FARPost—in which the Scotsman alleged that the club’s ongoing struggles are the byproduct of management interference in tactical setups and player selections—Johnson has insisted that his own experience did not mirror those claims.
“For the short period that I was at Kaizer Chiefs, it was not the case [management interference],” Johnson explained to FARPost. “I did not experience those types of challenges personally. I did not have those types of demands coming to me.
“However, I do believe that along the way, the organisation as a whole has not recruited the right quality of players. When I was there, I was not involved in the actual buying and selling of personnel; I was only with the senior team for a relatively short period.”
CAVIN JOHNSON: THE PROBLEM IS THE QUALITY OF THE PLAYERS
“I also did not have any pre-season with the team. I was meant to come in to save the club, but they decided to part ways. They then restructured with a new coach and technical team. They seemed to be doing well for a short while, but now the wheels seem to have come off again.”
Recruitment and technical direction remain the focal points of fan frustration. After the Ntseki and Johnson era at Chiefs, Nasreddine Nabi came with his technical team and ended the club’s 10-year trophy drought before the club decided to part ways with him, leaving Kaze and Ben Youssef as co-coaches. But the duo is currently struggling, losing four games in a row, which has sparked intense calls for their firing and even a protest march to the Naturena headquarters.
“In my view, I believe it is the quality of the players. I believe what has been lost is the culture of what a Chiefs player should be. I think it has gone a little bit pear-shaped,” added Johnson.
“Do the current players compare with the likes of Doctor Khumalo, Neil Tovey, Isaac Khungwane, Jabu Pule, Stanton Fredericks, Emmanuel Ngobese, and John Moshoeu? Does the current crop of players compare with those players? Do they compare with those players who brought Kaizer Chiefs success? You need to look at that.”
‘MUHSIN WAS THE LAST’: JOHNSON CLAIMS POOR RECRUITMENT HAS STIFLED POST-ERTUGRAL SUCCESS
He pointed to clubs like Barcelona FC as an example of successful talent renewal. The Spanish giants once relied on players such as Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Sergio Busquets, Dani Alves and Gerard Piqué, yet they have managed to replace them with players of similar or even higher quality, including Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong and Raphinha.
“At Kaizer Chiefs, I think probably Muhsin Ertugral was the last coach to achieve big accolades because he had the quality of players to do so. Then Stuart Baxter came and achieved a little bit, and Ernst Middendorp achieved a little bit, but the rest got nothing,” Johnson added.
“Nasreddine Nabi also got a little bit, but there has been nothing sustainable—the kind of quality where you can go through a slump and still expect to bounce back well in the following season.”
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