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Coach slams 'powerless' Chiefs
12/07/2007 13:30 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The Kaizer Chiefs squad are a powerless lot.
Who says so?
No, it's not some mischievous detractor trying to derail the team before the new PSL season. It's new coach Muhsin Ertugral.
Not that the straight-talking, Turkish-German coach, who is about to launch his second stint as technical supremo at Chiefs, is motivated by anything but the best of intentions after Amakhosi suffered the ignominious fate last season of failing to qualify for the coming season's Supa8 tournament.
Ertugral, however, is a firm believer in the dictum of calling a spade a spade - and he has come out with guns blazing in a manner reminiscent of Hopalong Cassidy or the Texas Ranger after what Chiefs chairperson Kaizer Motaung described as one of the most depressing and disappointing seasons in the club's proud history - one he cannot wait to forget.
So, after a couple of weeks trying to get the Chiefs players into shape, Ertugral has revealed that he is "not very impressed."
Like being confronted by a sleek car, coughing and choking as a result of half its cylinders being oiled up and inoperative, Ertugral has thrown up his arms and proclaimed: "The power is not there."
"At the moment," added the coach, "we are in the process of putting the power and agility back into the team.
"Skill alone won't achieve anything," says the matter-of-fact Ertugral.
And in order to get the Chiefs' spark plugs firing again, the former Ajax Cape Town coach has got the players participating in intensive sessions at a Johannesburg gymnasium.
"I have just received a report from last season that shows Chiefs players suffered 21 heavy injuries," says Ertugral, "which is far too many. What it simply means is that certain parts of the players' strength are not developed very well. And if we carry on in the same way we could end up with 30 injuries in the coming season.
"There are a few challenges around this area which need to be sorted out," he added. "I believe no one has the right to feel they are in a comfort zone."
So, it would seem, a recipe of blood, sweat and tears is in store for the Chiefs' players as Ertugral seeks to help Motaung bury memories of his 2006/07 season nightmare.
"It might take three months, six months or even one year," says tough taskmaster Ertugral. "I don't know. But one thing I can promise and that is I will get this team back on track."
- SAPA
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