Kaizer Chiefs' newly-appointed renowned sports psychologist, Dr. Henning Gericke has received praise from head coach Molefi Ntseki and also his players.
Amakhosi brought in the services of Gericke in early September, who joined their technical team as a high-performance coach.
The highly-experienced mental coach has had specific areas to focus on with the Amakhosi team, who have had spectators throwing missiles on the pitch for two games already this season. The Soweto giants also had another mental challenge, after they were knocked out by Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 semi-final, with the controversy of a denied a penalty surrounding their 2-1 loss in the second-leg.
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Ntseki says Gericke's inclusion to the technical team has helped them a lot.
"Well done to Dr Henning, I think he's playing a very important role in making us understand things that on a sober mind you don't want to understand," Ntseki said in a press conference.
Amakhosi striker Ranga Chivaviro also opened up on the appointment of Gericke, who has over two decades of experience in sports psychology, having previously worked with the likes of the Springboks rugby team, the Proteas South African cricket national team, Bafana Bafana during the 2009 Confederations Cup and the Sharks provincial rugby team.
"With his experience, the way he motivates us before games, during training sessions, he comes and speaks to us. He also gives us an open-door policy of managing to speak to him directly," Chivaviro said in a press conference.
"But him being around, I think it has added value, there's a difference, we always look forward to having those meetings with him but I think the most important thing is the experience that he has, he has worked with a lot of athletes, not necessarily in the football industry (but) in other sports as well, it just tells you about the calibre of the man. I feel the value he's adding is visible," he said.
Chiefs defender Thatayaone Ditlhokwe also hailed Gericke's importance to the team and says they are grateful for his services.
"He's very important, it's one aspect that was overlooked in the past but you can see now most of the teams are doing it because football can sometimes demand a lot from a player," Ditlhokwe told the media in a press conference.
"It can bring a lot of stress, so sometimes you need someone who is outside the field so that he can try to show you things in a different way, to bring hope where maybe you lost hope. You can't play football when the well-being of your mind is not in a good state, so it's something very important, it's helpful and we're grateful for it," he added.
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