Bobby Motaung draws a line in the sand on Da Cruz, says Chiefs are not a circus
Bobby Motaung has sent a blunt message to Kaizer Chiefs critics and supporters who are demanding coaching heads: Naturena is not a place where managers are fired on a whim.
The Kaizer Chiefs football manager has thrown his full weight behind Fernando Da Cruz and the technical team, despite a season of inconsistent results.
“I’m happy,” Motaung said on Marawa Sports Worldwide. “My coach owns the change room, controls the change room. If you hear how people are fired in other clubs or whatever, we’re not in a circus game.”
Da Cruz replaced the co-coaching duo of Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef, who guided Chiefs to the Confederation Cup group stage and a top-three league finish last season.
His stint started well, but five draws in their last six league games have dragged Amakhosi down to fifth, with 14 points, nine behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who have played a game more.
Chiefs were also knocked out of the MTN8 in the first round and the Confederation Cup in the preliminary stage. Motaung insists the club is playing the long game.
“We’re looking at the vision and forward thinking, and we’re looking at a plan that we agreed on with the coach long term.
“I mean look at the players who are playing now like Wandile Duba, how old is Duba, look at Mfundo Vilakazi, all of them, the coach believes in them.”
He praised the structure behind the scenes. “Look at how he prepares the team, look at technical aspects of the team, it’s high level.
“But the only thing is patience and time, doesn’t happen overnight like I say, there’s injuries that happened,” he added.
He also took a pointed swipe at local coaching culture. “I can tell you about local coaches who come in at 9 o’clock, 11 o’clock at the village. We’ve got a facility there that’s got Sports Science, it’s got everything. These coaches leave at 5 o’clock, 6 o’clock, working on that, planning and looking at everything.”
His verdict is clear. “I think we’ve hired a high level coach, he just needs time.”
- Amakhosi coaching debate, Bobby Motaung backs Fernando Da Cruz, Bobby Motaung interview, CAF Confederation Cup elimination, Fernando Da Cruz Kaizer Chiefs, Kaizer Chiefs coaching pressure, Kaizer Chiefs league position, Kaizer Chiefs long-term plan, Kaizer Chiefs MTN8 exit, Kaizer Chiefs technical team, Mamelodi Sundowns league leaders, MDNTV, mdntvlive, mdntvnews, Mfundo Vilakazi, Wandile Duba
