Kaizer Chiefs have had three coaches who did not enjoy the privilege usually taken advantage of at the club, and these trainers were prematurely dismissed, as admitted by one of their former employees.
Amakhosi have high expectations to win trophies mainly because of their support base, who play a big role in them winning matches.
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Over the years, the Glamour Boys have been helped by their dominance in the stands when it comes to how supporters can inspire players on the field, and this advantage counts for Chiefs home and away in South Africa.
However, there are three coaches who were denied this privilege, as former coach Ernst Middendorp had to play the last eight league games in the 2019/20 season without supporters in the stands due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
After leading the log for the most part of the season, Chiefs struggled without supporters in the last eight games and lost the title on the final matchday.
Middendorp's successor Gavin Hunt, also did not have this advantage of Amakhosi fans, as fans were still not allowed to the stadiums during his tenure, until he was relieved of his duties in the last few matches of the league season.
Subsequently, Stuart Baxter also struggled in empty stadiums and the return of fans coincided with him being relieved of his duties in April 2022.
Hunt, who led Chiefs to the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League, says he feels he could have won trophies with supporters at the stadium and believed he was ready to deliver trophies in the upcoming season, with the benefit of signings, before he parted ways with the club.
"The next season," Hunt responded on ThisIsFootball.Africa YouTube Channel when asked at what point he felt he was going to win trophies at Amakhosi.
"I played with no supporters. The supporters give you an extra ten points a season. Chiefs supporters…and not at home, away.
"When you play in Cape Town, Durban, PE, I mean Chiefs. When I went there, there were no people (in the stands), it was Covid, so I had no supporters, we couldn't sign any players," he said.
"I find it very strange that Ernst Middendorp left, they lost the league, came second, the best results they've had in years, they fired him. I was like 'wow, okay'. When I came in, (Samir) Nurkovic did not train for six months, (Khama) Billiat broke his leg, so we had nothing," he added.
Ironically, Chiefs' coaching appointments after fans were allowed back into the stadiums, Arthur Zwane and Molefi Ntseki didn't last long, in particular with the latter being placed under pressure by fans in the stands who threw missiles at him after poor results.
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