Kaizer Chiefs coach Gavin Hunt has urged the fans to show patience with the club as a whole and belief in the players as pressure mounts on the team after a poor start to the season.
Chiefs came up just short last term but chose to fire coach Ernst Middendorp and bring in Hunt, who, without the benefit of a transfer window has been unable to rouse a performance out of the squad.
The former Bidvest Wits trainer hasn’t been able to tap into the squad’s potential or reinforce it with fresh blood.
Kaizer Chiefs need fans to get behind them – Hunt
Kaizer Chiefs have gone seven matches without a win in domestic competition and after their defeat to SuperSport United in midweek languish in 12th on the log.
Hunt stopped short of blaming the Fifa transfer ban for his and the club’s woes, but the frustration runs deep as the club have been unable to back up their performances last campaign as injuries have wrought havoc on their squad.
The coach alluded to the ban as the chief reason for their struggles but has asked the supporters to rally behind the players whose confidence appears to have dropped off a cliff after they butchered a big lead last season.
“To the supporters, you obviously want them to stay with the team in good times and bad, obviously this is a bad time, but we all know what the situation is,” said Hunt after the 2-1 defeat to SuperSport.
“If you understand, and look at football, you’ll know what has happened that couldn’t happen at the beginning of the season.
“But we’ve got to believe in the players, we’ve got to get them up again, they had a big fall off last year – I mean, they were way in front and then obviously it was a huge drop off.
“So, we need to stick with the players and try and get through this rough period. We know, anybody who understands football, will see that what is happening.”
Amakhosi need to be more clinical
Hunt feels that his team are creating chances, but small mistakes are costing them dearly in matches against opportunistic opponents.
“We’re coming out of games with a lot of opportunities but teams have one attack or no attack, and they’ve scored. So, that’s what happens.”
Kaizer Chiefs next engagement is a DStv Premiership contest against struggling Bloemfontein Celtic on Saturday 19 December with just three points separating the sides.