Just before the close of the January transfer window, Kaizer Chiefs signed Thabo Cele, Tashreeq Morris, and Glody Makabi Lilepo to bolster their squad, hoping to end a nearly decade-long trophy drought.
However, a former Amakhosi striker, Bernard Parker criticises the way the club makes transfers.
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Speaking to journalists at a media briefing in Johannesburg on Wednesday, Parker expressed concern how Chiefs profile players, according to his understanding of the strategy. The former Bafana Bafana striker emphasized the importance of evaluating a player's long-term consistency rather than short-term achievements.
"I think what has been happening just to be honest with you in the past 10 years, you know, it's just what Chiefs are doing with just keeping on signing and keep on signing and the next thing is, they are off-loading and off-loading and then sign again. But do we thoroughly profile the player? And did we bring in a player that is in consistent form over three years and not only six months or a year?" Parked asked.
"It's very, very important because a player that needs to don a Kaizer Chiefs jersey needs to be a seasoned campaigner. Not just on a six months form that he hit or a one-year form that he hit. So, also when we have signed players, can we identify where we need to strengthen and what we have inside also? Or are we just adding on and hope that the player will hit the ground running? If it's like that, it will be a continuous thing where the club will fall short every year," Parker observed.
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As the TS Galaxy DDC team coach, Parker urged fans to support players like Yusuf Maart and Given Msimango, noting that talent doesn't vanish overnight.
"I don't think it's Yusuf Maart only. Even Given Msimango. Everybody here. You cannot just become a bad player overnight. You just performed highly at your former team where you were the boss. Where you won the midfielder of the season or defender of the season and then go to a better team, play with better quality and you are not the same? How does that work? We need to find the gap. With my own experience you have to put things aside and focus on yourself. Focus on finding yourself. Then everything else will come back," Parker concluded.
