Kaizer Jr calls for patience amid Chiefs' poor form

Kaizer Motaung Junior has made it clear Kaizer Chiefs’ hierarchy are not happy with their languid start to the year, but has pleaded with the club’s notoriously impatient fans to remain calm and supportive to Arthur Zwane’s regime.

Chiefs host rampaging Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday (FNB Stadium, 8pm) on the back of two successive defeats which have turned the pressure on coach Zwane, but while understanding the fans frustrations, Motaung emphasised Amakhosi would respond positively to avert the potential of another season of panic.

“We are not happy to have lost two matches in a row conceding five goals in the process. We are also not happy with where we are,” the Chiefs sporting director told Sowetan yesterday.

“But we will take immediate steps to help assist the technical team to address some of the challenges the team face. We have not taken some of our chances and we are conceding at an alarming rate.”

One of those steps is the signing of a forward in this transfer window to bolster their attack, Motaung said.

“We are in the final stages of confirming a contract [with the striker]. There’s no question that we need to reinforce in that department even though we have one of the top scorers [Caleb Bimenyimana]. We have thus gone into the market to acquire a striker who we believe will alleviate the pressure on Caleb and help up take some of the chances we’ve been squandering.”

Chiefs have been linked with Congolese striker Christain Saile who has been training with them for some weeks.

Motaung maintained Zwane still enjoys support of management despite growls of discontent in the Chiefs fanbase sparked by little progress since he took over at the beginning of the season. Chiefs are fourth in the DStv Premiership standings – a massive 19 points behind Sundowns.

“We set certain targets when we started this project and some of them have obviously not been met. That’s because we understand we have a new squad which is trying to integrate and that was always going to come with challenges.

"But we have seen some positives: we have scored the joint fourth most goals in the league; we play with a structure which has a quick, dynamic game. What I can say to Amakhosi fans is we need to understand that you can’t build a squad in one transfer window.

"It takes time. Ultimately football is about results and until we get to that point, we have to accept the criticism. I agree with the fans that our position is unacceptable but what's important at this time is togetherness and support. That's what we want to see on Saturday.”