On Itumeleng Khune's 25-year Anniversary
I don't know where to start because for me it's an unfinished story. We all know that Itu (Itumeleng Khune) was honoured for the 25th anniversary but people must understand, that wasn't a retirement. He wasn't being honoured on retirement; he was honoured for 25 years of service to the club. The problem is that the event (on Saturday) wasn't properly arranged. He should have been honoured during a 'right' game, with supporters out in their numbers because Khune is our product, and he has done well for the club. Even the game should have been his – he should have played the whole 90 minutes instead of coming on as a substitute.
Now that the management has honoured him for 25 years of service, what's needed is that when he retires, his retirement should be celebrated during a Soweto Derby match, where 90 000 supporters will watch Kaizer Chiefs playing Orlando Pirates. That way we'd give him a prober farewell because he has played his part, he played many games for Chiefs and won many trophies.
I remember the time when there were rumours that he was leaving Kaizer Chiefs – that he was going overseas, he was going to Sundowns – I made it clear that if Khune was going to go to Orlando Pirates or Mamelodi Sundowns, or any other South African club for that matter, I'd be the first man to be arrested because I would take it upon myself to bring him back home, unless he went overseas. We rate him as our number one player, and I think other players should be like Khune. You see, when he plays, he gives his all because he's doing what he loves, playing for the Kaizer Chiefs badge, the sponsors, the supporters, management and the Kaizer Chiefs legacy.
I always say to players, 'Respect your job, respect your talent' because how are you going to respect your job if you don't respect your talent? So, Khune is a reliable player, even if Chiefs lost, we would still see that he gave his best. He has that ability to communicate well with his teammates. The supporters appreciated that. We used to win games with 1-0 score-lines, but the most important thing was that we were winning matches, and Khune always understood the role of a goalkeeper within the team. And that's why we had that song "uKhune Wethu", to show our appreciation. He, in turn, always acknowledged our appreciation. He is a married man, with children, so I want him to know that Khune's family is our family For Life.
On the match against Polokwane City
That game was disappointing to say the least. In fact, the Kaizer Chiefs we are supporting right now is an ordinary team. Anyone we come up against knows they can collect points against us. They fancy their chances against us. We, as supporters, don't really have a choice; we must just continue supporting our team because this is the time when our team needs us most. We didn't play well at all against Polokwane City. The way I see it is that we didn't show any hunger, and there was no commitment whatsoever. It looked like the players were playing just for the sake of playing.
It was boring, especially considering that the game was also played to honour Khune, who has done so well for the club. When I looked around, there were not even 300 people in the stands. So, our next game is a do-or-die, we need to win it and qualify for the Top Eight, which means we will come up against Mamelodi Sundowns next season.
Having said that, however, it was good to see the coach introducing a number of youngsters, and they played well under the circumstances. I saw some impressive combinations with the likes of (Mdu) Shabalala and (Happy) Mashiane. I also realised that the boys get affected when the team loses, so they want to play a role in helping the team. Those young boys need to play more but, with that said, we as supporters don't want to get ourselves involved in team selection matters.
On chances of qualifying for the Top Eight
I think it's not about the coach anymore. Now it's about the players. The question is, 'Do the players want to get into the Top Eight?' The coach has done his part, it's now up to the players to show us what they want to do – do they want to disappoint us and kick us out of the Top Eight, or do they want to do well and qualify for the Top Eight? Now we've got nothing to lose. They need to pull up their socks, show up and qualify us for the Top Eight. It's about the Kaizer Chiefs brand. The kit manager, who makes sure the players look clean, the driver who transports the players to the stadium, Jessica (Motaung) who gets us quality merchandise and the supporters who keep the players going. All these people are doing their part, but the players are not coming to the party. Our focus now is on the Top Eight. We have one foot there, the other is still outside.
On what Kaizer Chiefs need to do to turn their fortunes around next season
This is a difficult one to answer because some things are beyond our control. But, having said that, we need a coach with leadership skills because, when I look at it, especially regarding the time Brandon Petersen was given a red card from the bench for interfering in the job that was not his, it shows that our players don't have discipline. The fact that you find a substitute invading the pitch, sometimes fighting with the coach shows a serious lack of discipline. What message is he sending to other players? For now, we don't want to talk a lot, we will talk properly after this weekend's match. For now, we are busy doing damage control. All I can say now is that the supporters need to be patient. We are now like Liverpool, they endured 30 years without winning the league, but their supporters kept on saying, 'You will never walk alone'. Arsenal hasn't won the league in a long time, but their supporters are fully behind the team. So that's what we, the Kaizer Chiefs supporters, need to do right now, we need to remind ourselves that 'IKhosi alipheli moya'. We don't want to see a situation where – if it happens that Chiefs doesn't qualify for the Top Eight on Saturday – people will start fighting; we need to behave like true loyal Kaizer Chiefs supporters who are always happy. We need to go there with a positive attitude, where we say a win is number one, a top priority; a draw is number two, and a loss is number three. We should go there with a 99% expectation to win. We need to also open room for disappointment and that's where that 1% fits in. The players, on the other hand, must respect their jobs and protect their talents because their careers depend on them taking care of their talent.
Saddam Maake
Kaizer Chiefs supporter
