Amakhosi boss Motaung speaks out on coach Middendorp's future at Kaizer Chiefs

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Ernst Middendorp.
Kaizer Chiefs head coach Ernst Middendorp.
Image: Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix

Speculation that Ernst Middendorp may not continue to coach Kaizer Chiefs from the end of the 2019-20 season even if they win the league is “just rumours”‚ says Amakhosi football manager Bobby Motaung.

As professional football gears to return on August 8 from the March 16 suspension due to the coronavirus‚ Chiefs lead the Absa Premiership in their 50th anniversary season‚ attempting to reverse four unprecedented previous seasons without a trophy.

Despite this rumours have swirled‚ and press reports speculated‚ that Chiefs might not be overly keen to continue with Middendorp as coach even if Amakhosi pull off a championship victory.

“Unfortunately we’ve not even had that discussion as a club‚” Motaung told TimesLIVE.

“So it’s rumours that you find and talk which is out there‚ which we don’t know of.

“So at this moment I don’t want to entertain the coach’s issues because there is nothing – we have never had a discussion. We have not sat down and discussed his future.

“The coach has a contract‚ he still has one more season to go. And we have not even sat down to say ‘the coach must leave’ or anything.

“And we don’t know anything. These are just rumour and rumours. We don’t know anything. We have not had those discussions.”

Chiefs (48 points from 22 games)‚ who at one stage had a commanding 13-point gap at the top of the Premiership‚ had seen that whittled to a four-point lead over second-placed defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns‚ who have a game in hand (44 from 21).

Football returns with the Nedbank Cup semifinals on the weekend of August 8.

The remainder of the 32 Premiership and GladAfrica Championship sides enter the Gauteng bio-safe bubble on August 11‚ with a resumption of the top and second-tier leagues apparently set for the weekend of August 15.