Johnson: I can take Chiefs to bigger things

by Staff Reporter

Thursday Nov 09, 2023. 13:14

Kaizer Chiefs interim coach Cavin Johnson believes he is uniquely suited to help the club become a force on the continent to rival the likes of Al Ahly and Wydad Casablanca.

Johnson picked up the first win of his tenure since replacing Molefi Ntseki at the helm as Amakhosi beat Cape Town Spurs 3-2 behind closed doors at the FNB Stadium in the DStv Premiership on Wednesday.

The Glamour Boys are one of South Africa’s most successful clubs, but have gone without silverware since winning the league title in 2014–15 and that drought looks to extend to a ninth year.

Chiefs crashed out of the MTN 8 and the Carling Knockout this term and they trail Mamelodi Sundowns by 10 points in seventh place after their midweek victory over the Urban Warriors.

Johnson, who was part of Pitso Mosimane’s coaching staff at Al Ahly, admits he is interested in taking on the job at Naturena full-time, but feels he has a more important part to play.

Asked whether he wanted the job on a permanent basis, the 64-year-old said: “It’s something that appeals to me, but there’s something bigger that appeals to me at Kaizer Chiefs.

“I have been to some of the biggest teams in the world and I’ve worked with one of the biggest teams in the world. And when I say this team (Chiefs) has got that potential, I think you need to bring [some things] from a bigger team and put it into this team, but not as a head coach.

“The head coach will always be changed at any club, but I feel that this team is not where it is supposed to be and maybe with my little knowledge, I think this team can be as big as it should be.

“So, whether I’m the head coach or interim coach, I’ve come to this team because there’s something that nobody else has and I say that with respect to all other clubs in the PSL.

“It’s Kaizer Motaung, Chincha Guluva, the only man in the world who has built the club, still owns the club and the only man in South Africa who has an institution like the village.

“I think that needs to be exposed to the rest of the world. The result, yes, but just the cloth that goes through that village. By the cloth [I mean] the people that work for him (Motaung), how they work for him and why they work for this team.

“And what the aim for this team is going forward for many generations to come. When I look and I compare examples, Al Ahly, when I look at the young players, they know the generations that won Ahly trophies.

“When I look at the young generations of Kaizer Chiefs, they don’t know the generations of [Patrick] Ace Ntsoelengoe and that is the cloth that has to go through this club that we know of.”