Johnson to form part of Chiefs' search for coach

Kaizer Chiefs’ search for a new coach doesn’t appear to be nearing any conclusion, if it has started at all.

The club’s football manager, Bobby Motaung, couldn’t give a direct answer when asked if there was a timeline to fill the vacancy that was opened when Molefi Ntseki was sacked last month following a defeat to AmaZulu.

Interestingly, Motaung, in his response, stated that current interim coach Cavin Johnson would be involved in finding a permanent replacement to the position, although again it remains unclear what kind of coach Amakhosi are searching for.

“He [Johnson] will be part of the journey [to appoint a new coach],” Motaung, speaking following the induction ceremony of his father Dr Kaizer Motaung last week, said. “Remember we brought him here with a vision of development, to stabilise the technical affairs and head the youth and scouting [departments]. But he is a qualified head coach so when this thing happened [of Ntseki being fired], we asked him to be interim coach.”

Motaung said roping in Johnson to be in the head coach recruitment process was informed by aligning all club structures to the same philosophy. “We have to have the same vision,” he said. “Imagine we hire a Brazilian coach and he brings in his own philosophy which is not in line with our development. Coach Johnson knows our vision because it’s long-term. The future depends on the success of the first team and everything must follow through,” Motaung said.

This week marks a month since Ntseki was shown the door after a defeat to AmaZulu at FNB Stadium, and things have not improved. Under Johnson, Chiefs have lost two of three matches and, with Amakhosi preparing to hire an eighth coach since 2015, it’s unclear if they have identified anyone.

Before they roped in Ntseki in the winter, Chiefs had apparently sent out a query to Pitso Mosimane’s team to find out if he would be available, but the coach had already engaged Al Wahda, of the United Arab Emirates, with whom he parted ways last week.

It’s unclear if any contact has been made since Mosimane is again on the market, but just like six months ago, Chiefs are believed to be put off by the costs associated with the former Mamelodi Sundowns trainer, who usually brings in an entire technical team.

“There are people already employed in those positions [that Mosimane’s team would want to fill]. Those people have contracts. But the big challenge is when he [Mosimane] leaves, what are you left with? You have to start from scratch,” said a Chiefs insider.