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Komphela bracing for a rough day in the office against tricky Arrows

No other coach in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) will be happier to see the back of 2016 than Kaizer Chiefs’ long-suffering mentor Steve Komphela.

The Chiefs coach — whose skills behind the microphone are at times crispier that his team’s performances on the pitch — has had a year he would love to forget after the once dominant club punched with the effectiveness of strawweight boxer.

Chiefs beat Polokwane City 3-2 in their last league outing at Soccer City on Sunday‚ a result that not only arrested an eight-match run without a win but also kept Komphela’s legion of critics at bay.

The Chiefs coach can ensure some breathing space for himself in the coming weeks — the PSL will suspend fixtures to accommodate Christmas‚ New Year and the 2017 African Nations Cup in Gabon next month — if his charges are able to beat tricky Golden Arrows in their final match of 2016 at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Wednesday night.

Komphela is well aware that Arrows coach Clinton Larsen’s sixth-placed charges are a potential banana skin and have the ability to hurl him back into the frying pan if the fourth-ranked Chiefs do not get a favourable result in Durban tonight.

‘‘I think we know what to expect from Arrows‚” Komphela said.

‘‘I think Clinton Larsen‚ Mandla Ncikazi (Arrows assistant coach) and everybody at Arrows have done a very good job.

‘‘Fortunately when we profiled Polokwane City (the team Chiefs faced in their last league game on Sunday) they were playing against Golden Arrows.

‘‘So indirectly we also profiled Arrows. They have a lot of strengths‚ they are very disciplined and they also have a lot of speed in their wing play.

‘‘So we have to be careful of that. There was a stage when they were top of the premiership standings and it was not by fluke or coincide — it was on the back of hard work.

‘‘I also know Mandla personally (they were together at Maritzburg United) and I know how hard they work on certain elements.

‘‘So we just have to go there again and as much as it is the last match of the year‚ we want to get a second win in a row and see what happens so that we can avoid the doubts and the questions about whether we are still in contention for the (league title).” — TMG Digital