Back in April it was dramatically confirmed that Stuart Baxter – who was in his second stint with Kaizer Chiefs – had been formally proven the door by Amakhosi.
Kaizer Chiefs embarrassingly crashed out of the Nedbank Cup final, whereas that they had underperformed within the DStv Premiership to be left stranded in fifth place when Baxter was let go.
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In an unique interview with SABC Sport, Baxter has advised that politics behind the scenes in the end led to a breakdown of his relationship with the membership, whereas additionally revealing his strained relationship with sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jnr.
“I think it was pretty clear to me what was going on. After I had Covid around the mid-season break, I realised even before then that there were agendas within the club,” Baxter instructed SABC Sport. “Those agendas were going to be satisfied whether I liked it or not, there were going to be things going on in the background, possibly not what I thought was the correct decision but it was going to be done.
“Now, I read in the papers immediately that I had been sacked, which was not the case. Did I think I should have been given more time? I just realised that the agendas weren’t open, saying, ‘Listen, coach…’ It was in the background all the time.”
Soon after Baxter made an unceremonious exit from the membership, his son Lee – who had been serving as a goalkeeping coach at Chiefs since 2018 – additionally left Amakhosi.
In audio printed by FAR Post at a media day Chiefs have been holding on Thursday, Zwane has now hit back at Baxter, whereas notably even suggesting that Lee was a part of the issue.
Baxter had additionally implied there was a disconnect over the membership’s recruitment strategy and planning round younger gamers.
“I told everybody at regular meetings why I was being patient with some of the younger players but partly because I thought the older players – the Keagan Dolly’s and Khama Billiat’s – were ahead of them in the pecking order, but we would work actively to give [the youngsters] minutes and get them in to gradually replace [the older players] in a couple of seasons.
“Everybody was ok with that, on the surface. Obviously not now, because the chairman finds it relevant to go out and accuse me of not wanting to play the kids, which is not true.
“[With Kaizer Jnr] we butted heads very early, and I think he realised that if I was around then all these things he wanted to do were not going to be smooth, I wouldn’t want to bring in a player I didn’t need.”
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Baxter beforehand revealed that he felt issues have been near clicking for Chiefs
Previously, the veteran coach acknowledged that he truly felt the crew might have rebounded to complete as runners-up within the Premiership, which might have secured Amakhosi a spot within the CAF Champions League.
“When you don’t get to finish that, of course you are not happy. Of course, I’d have liked to continue and see what we could do. But I have to say, the conditions became not conducive for either me or Chiefs,” stated Baxter, who left the membership regardless of nonetheless having a yr left on his contract.
“So, we sat down and agreed to part company. And that is sad for me because of what I’ve just said. Therefore, I would have liked to continue because I think we could’ve finished top two and I don’t where the table will finish now, but I just think that there’s a sadness for my side that we didn’t get to do that. It wasn’t the way I thought it would be when I actually came back. As things unfolded it wasn’t what I thought it would be.”
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