While Kaizer Chiefs have officially punched their ticket back to the continental stage, club legend Brian Baloyi warns that a CAF Confederation Cup spot should not be used to paper over the cracks at Naturena.
Baloyi has welcomed Amakhosi’s return to continental football but warns the club against getting carried away and neglecting tough decisions regarding the squad and coaching staff.
Chiefs secured a third-place finish in the Betway Premiership with two games to spare, following Sunday’s 2-0 win over Sekhukhune United in Polokwane. While the result books their spot in next season’s Confederation Cup, Baloyi insists it still falls short of the club’s historic standards.
According to the ex-Bafana Bafana goalie, rivals Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates remain far ahead of Chiefs. Baloyi further pointed out a few playing positions Chiefs still need to beef up ahead of next season, as well as the coaching hot seat.
BRIAN BALOYI SAYS KAIZER CHIEFS SHOULD NOT BE BE SATISFIED BY THIRD PLACE
“You can’t be celebrating third position, it is taking your bar too low as a club and as fans,” Baloyi said on the Soccer Beat podcast. “Yes it’s good to be back in the CAF [Confed Cup] and the top eight, it is good to be back in the conversation among the top three.
“But it is still a very long way to go to catch up to those top two teams [Pirates and Sundowns]. To make things right, there are a lot of tough decisions the club has to make with regards to players. The types of players they are going to sign, and the coach.
“For me again, it is not even a conversation or even a question of asking ‘are you keeping these coaches [ Khalil Ben Youssef and Cedric Kaze]?’ For me it must never even be a question or a conversation. It is clear that Chiefs needs to get a top class coach to take Chiefs back to being a top class club.”
BRANDON PETERSEN AND ADEN MCCARTHY EARN SPECIAL MENTION
Baloyi also added that Chiefs managed to solve one of their biggest problems from last season through improvements in the goalkeeping department, but feels the club’s next challenge is finding a reliable backup goalkeeper to strengthen depth in that position.
“In defence, as much as they’ve kept many clean sheets, credit to Brandon Petersen, and a very young defender, in Aden McCarthy and [Bradley] Cross. Chiefs need to get a very reliable and experienced central defender,” Baloyi concluded.
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