Kaizer Chiefs have a tough away match this weekend when they take on Marumo Gallants on Sunday.
If things don’t go well this weekend for Kaizer Chiefs, head coach Arthur Zwane could find his side in the relegation zone on Sunday evening.
Chiefs have won only two of six league games this term and are 12th on the table with seven points. Second from bottom-of-the-log Gallants have five points – meaning they’ll leapfrog Chiefs with a win.
Chippa United in 16th also have five points and would also go above Amakhosi if they can beat AmaZulu in Durban.
Sekhukhune United (14th) are not in action this weekend while Stellenbosch FC in 13th position are away at Swallows and if Chiefs draw or lose, Stellies will also go above the Soweto side if they avoid losing to the Birds.
So while it’s possible the Glamour Boys could find themselves in the relegation zone with a nearly quarter of the season played, of bigger concern will be if they fail to beat Gallants, regardless of how the other results go.
That would leave them with just two wins in seven matches, and going into the game, Amakhosi have only scored four goals in six league games.
And with three of those coming against Maritzburg United, the Soweto side have effectively netted only one goal in five.
If come Sunday evening Chiefs do indeed find themselves in and around the drop zone, the supporters, not yet fully sold on Zwane, will be voicing their frustrations towards the Amakhosi head coach.
It’s surely too early to say that his job is on the line – and having backed their former player, Chiefs management won’t want to make any hasty decisions which would suggest they made the wrong call.
However, and also taking into consideration the large outlay the club have made on players, the pressure will build substantially if Amakhosi lose on Sunday; the game could potentially be a pivotal moment in the season and in Zwane’s managerial career at Chiefs. A win really is non negotiable.
Gallants may be languishing in the drop zone, but they’ll be anything but easy opponents and the reported departure of their ehad coach Romain Folz may just serve to galvanise the side as it sometimes does.
Chiefs are yet to beat Gallants away from home – the two matches played have ended in a 0-0 draw and a 2-1 win for the Limpopo team.
Chiefs and Zwane can point to the fact that they reached the Nedbank Cup semi-finals, though it can be countered that their win over Stellenbosch FC was unconvincing.
If they do manage however to beat AmaZulu in the two-legged semi-finals and make the final, it would certainly buy some time for Zwane.
Zwane has been at the forefront of nearly all the pre and post-match interviews, and there’s a segment of fans who believe he should be talking less and focussing more on his job.
It’s something the club may want to consider – taking Zwane out of the limelight for a while and perhaps getting the assistant, Dillon Sheppard, to take some of the heat off the former Amakhosi winger for the time being.
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