By Dylan Bettencourt
- Cedric Kaze said he would leave Kaizer Chiefs happy if the club finished third in the Betway Premiership this season.
- Kaizer Chiefs have lost three Betway Premiership games in a row and now sit below Durban City in the table.
Kaizer Chiefs co-head coach Cedric Kaze says finishing third in the Betway Premiership is enough for him this season.
Kaze told journalists at Naturena ahead of Sunday’s home game against Durban City: “If we finish third this season, I’ll leave the club happy.”
Third place would send Chiefs back to the CAF Confederation Cup. The club played in the competition this season but went out in the group stages.
The comment puts Kaze at odds with sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jnr, who said last week that Chiefs still have Champions League ambitions. Only the top two teams in the Premiership qualify for that competition. Chiefs have fallen well behind Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.
Kaze and co-head coach Khalil Ben Youssef took charge in September, replacing Nasreddine Nabi. Chiefs went into the new year still in the title race. In February, the club went out of both the Nedbank Cup and the CAF Confederation Cup. They have since lost their last three Premiership games in a row.
Chiefs will not be adding to the Nedbank Cup they won last season, their first trophy in a decade.
At his media briefing, Kaze showed statistics putting Chiefs at the top in several categories. But those numbers are not turning into goals. Chiefs have scored fewer goals than any other team in the current top six.
Their defence has also been shaky. Chiefs conceded as many goals in their last three Premiership games as they had in the first 15.
Aden McCarthy is suspended for Sunday’s game. Zitha Kwinika is back from suspension and available.
Durban City have jumped above Chiefs in the table and now sit fourth, two points ahead of Amakhosi. Chiefs have two games in hand.
Pictured above: Kaizer Chiefs co-head coach Cedric Kaze.
Image source: Kaizer Chiefs
