Kick Off November 2020

The biggest misconception about new Kaizer Chiefs coach Gavin Hunt is that he is a disciple of skop-skit-en-donder football, who wants his team to hoof the ball forward and whip in crosses for big a target-man to head the ball home. This is not just a misconception about Hunt; other coaches or players who come from Cape Town are often also accused of the same stereotypical thinking, which is sadly not true. And this could also be one of the reasons why he was never considered by Bafana Bafana or any of the so-called ‘big teams’ in the past. While Hunt was able to navigate through this criticism at previous clubs like Bidvest Wits and SuperSport United, the truth is Kaizer Chiefs is a bigger team with much greater expectations.…

Outstanding work by Dr Irvin Khoza I would like to thank the PSL for finishing the remaining games in the season. My thanks especially goes to Dr Irvin Khoza for a job welldone. We were all lost not knowing what will happen, and when the action returned, the teams did not disappoint. The champions were decided in the last match, and it was nail-biting to watch how the drama unfolded. Even though there were no spectators to watch, it was nice watching PSL teams finish the matches without any hassle. As a Bhakajuju, I congratulate Sundowns for winning treble this season! Pitso Mosimane, I salute you for job well-done before you left for Egypt! By Thabang Letsholo, Kimberley Congratulations Sundowns This writer would like to congratulate Mamelodi Sundowns for clinching…

GOOD MONTH FOR … PITSO MOSIMANE Mosimane has fulfilled his dream of leading a big team outside of South Africa after being appointed to coach the Confederation of African Football’s Club of the Century, Egyptian giants Al Ahly. BAD MONTH FOR … FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT Two of South Africa’s three top club academies in the last few decades are now no more after the demise of Ajax Cape Town and BidVest Wits. How will this impact the game in the future with SuperSport United now standing alone? ALSO LAST MONTH… • Steve Komphela moves from the head coach role at Lamontville Golden Arrows to a new ‘senior coach’ position at Mamelodi Sundowns, where he will report to co-head coaches Manqoba Mngqithi and Rhulani Mokwena in what is an increasingly complex hierarchy…

Joe Frickleton -May 1985 P21 W10 D7 L3 GF34 GA16 Frickleton had taken Chiefs to a sweep of the 1984 season, firmly establishing their dominance in the domestic game. They started 1985 in similar fashion, even amid the breakaway crisis where their chairman Kaizer Motaung was one of the major protagonists in leaving the National Professional Soccer League to set up the new National Soccer League. Chiefs won the BP Top Eight at the start of the season with a 2-1 aggregate win over Arcadia Shepherds in the final and also won their first four league games of the season, scoring 14 goals and conceding just one. But in the Champion of Champions final, Arcadia got their revenge and won 2-1. And Chiefs’ league form spluttered too, as they won…

Thulani Hlatshwayo signing for Orlando Pirates is a move that could have first happened when he was a teenager and then came close to materialising last year when he held talks with The Buccaneers. But it all came to nothing after he agreed to a contract extension at his previous employers BidVest Wits. The possibility still remained alive though, and after Wits were sold to Tshakuma Tsha Madzivhandila, it became obvious thatthe defender would finally achieve his long-he becoming a Buccaneer. ambition of A football journey that began in Senaoane, So we to, where the 30-year-old was born and grew up, has now taken him back to a club that also calls So we to home. “Tyson came to Gunners from another local club, Senaoane Gladiators after he made the…

When Thulani Hlatshwayo arrived at Ajax Cape Town as a teenager, Dominic Isaacs was tasked with providing a brotherly shoulder for the young defender from Soweto. The task was laid by Mike Ntombela, who had been Isaacs’ assistant coach in the Amajimbos in the late 1990s. Isaacs did as he was asked before he left for Kaizer Chiefs in 2008, and upon his return to the club five years later, he partnered Hlatshwayo in the heart of defence. “I remember Tyson as a junior because Bro Mike said I should look after him, especially as he wasa defender like me. He said if the boy is stuck, he must come to me and I said, ‘no problem, coach’. “Thulani was shy and stayed at MrBooy sen’s house, and was always…