Kaizer Chiefs Team reported back to hard work on Saturday, 4 January 2014. The players went through testing and immediately got on with their training programme under the watchful eye of Coach Stuart Baxter and his Technical Team.

Coach Baxter took time off from his hectic schedule to give a glimpse of the state of the Team ahead of the period that will see Chiefs defending their Championship and the Nedbank Cup. Chiefs will also venture into Africa in the quest for CAF Championship glory. This is what Baxter had to say about the return to action after the festive break:

“Everybody has returned back in one piece, thankfully. The Team looks reasonably fresh after the break. We are training harder than usual because we do not have games in between. It has been a very good start in the last few days. We have four our players away on National duty which will be another challenge to integrate them back in the setup when they return,” said Baxter.

Chiefs went into the break leading the PSL league table:

“We have to work hard not to lose focus. We must pick up where we left off before the break. When you are on top and on a good run it would have been better to play continuously without a break but we are not complaining that’s just the way it is, we have to get on with the job,” said Baxter.

Chiefs have four of their regular starting line-up players away on National duty (Itumeleng Khune, Bernard Parker, Tefu Mashamaite and Siphiwe Tshabalala) and midfield kingpin Reneilwe Letsholonyane side-lined by a knee injury:

“That is half of the starting line-up if you look at it. You will recall that we have been experiencing the same situation in the recent past. There was a time where seven of our players were selected for the national team and at some stage they returned to the Team two days before major fixtures. It makes it difficult to prepare properly because at Chiefs we work hard on our Coaching environment.

When players go away to the national team, they meet with different teammates and play a different role. Even if the National Team Coach is good, the coaching environment will be different. It is a challenge for both the players that leave to the national team and that are left behind. This is the matter that we have to approach seriously,” lamented Baxter.

About the preparation:

“We have a line up of two practice matches with the sides from Mozambique and the other one is from Swaziland. We shelved our plans to go on camp in Europe because of the uncertainty of the dates. We will do our preparation here at our Club house. The preparation will be adequate and we will do the best that we can to prepare well,” said Baxter.

About the window period:

We have signed George Maluleka and Katlego Mphela (pre-contract). I know the two players very well. I worked with Mphela at Bafana Bafana and I have seen Maluleka play before. They are both experienced players and they will not be intimidated to play in Africa and so on. We needed depth and these new acquisitions will give us just that. But we are continuing to monitor the markets and hopefully we will get one or two more players. At least now we can do that in peace and quiet after acquiring these two. Mphela and Maluleka are not youngsters that would need more time to be integrated in the Team.

We are continuing to do work with our Development. Philani Cele has come through as you have seen. We are putting a lot of work on that front. We recently won the Discovery Walter Sisulu Soccer Tournament with the Development squad. We are adding ingredients and the achievement is a first shoot on the Chiefs tree. Even though it was not a major tournament of international stature or something at that level, it gives the lads an opportunity to get a foothold,” continued Baxter.

Lehlohonolo Majoro refused to extend his contract when it expires in June 2014 with the Club:

“I did not have a problem to work with Majoro when he was here. Majoro came to a conclusion that he needed more game time than what he got at the Club. At the moment it throws us in limbo not knowing if Major is coming or going. The situation is now a right-off. We are not in bad terms with him. As things stand, Majoro will not play for us and will have to find his next address,” said Baxter.

Chiefs will restart the season with a date against Mamelodi Sundowns on the 23rd January. On the 5th February, they take on another Tshwane based outfit, SuperSport United, before their CAF Champions encounter against the Black Africa of Katutura, in Namibia. The CAF game is scheduled for the weekend of 7-9 February 2014:

“It is a matter of one game at a time. They are all very difficult games. We will work out a plan to rotate the players and get fresh legs for each game. Against Sundowns and SuperSport, we must get as many points as we can from both games. The CAF game against the Namibian Team will equally be important for us and we will prepare to do our best there as well.

The message to the supporters:

“When the supporters are behind the Team, they reap the rewards. When they stick with the players it becomes beneficial to everyone associated with Kaizer Chiefs. They can be frustrated by the results but sticking with the Team has more benefits than booing a player when he is not doing well. We will do our best to still be on top at the end of the league,” concluded Baxter.