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The stuttering Kaizer Chiefs haven’t been able to get out of first gear with new coach Gavin Hunt this season, but the Golden Arrows prefer to exercise extreme caution and tread carefully when the two sides meet in a league game at Sugar Stadium. Ray Xulu on Saturday.
Arrows coach Mandla Ncikazi has watched the Chiefs’ struggles in recent weeks and warned his charges to guard against complacency and avoid becoming the side that Hunt uses to find his balance and turn things around.
The Chiefs have posted four points out of a possible nine following their strong 3-0 loss to the Mamelodi Sundowns on the first day of the season, a slim 1-0 win over Chippa United and a goalless draw with rookies TS Galaxy .
Ncikazi, on the other hand, got his Arrows career off to a promising start after drawing 1-1 at Bloemfontein Celtic and Baroka FC, and a home win over SuperSport United. But the Arrows coach admitted he was approaching the game with extreme caution as the Chiefs deserves respect.
“What seems obvious is not obvious and to me I see danger,” Ncikazi said. “Kaizer Chiefs is still a very good team because it is the same team that led with 13 points at some point last season. They are the same players and just a change of coach. They still have players like Lebogang Manyama, Khama Billiat and many other players from the national team.
“So, I don’t want us to believe that what we are seeing right now is what is going to happen during our game on Saturday. Like I said, I see danger and we have to be very careful.
“But we will prepare very well as we always do because we will play against a very good team. My message to the players is to be careful when we enter that field. The results may not have reached this stage, but they are still very good. team.
“If you look at his right-back, he’s an international player, Daniel Akpeyi is an international player, ltumeleng Khune is still a very good goalkeeper and he’s a Bafana Bafana [international].
“Daniel Cardso is of international level, Bernard Parker is a former international player, Manyama is a Bafana Bafana player, Billiat is with the Zimbabwe national team, Samir Nurković is sadly injured and I am happy he is gone.”
Ncikazi said his Chiefs counterpart Hunt, who has provided opportunities for a number of young players such as Happy Mashiane, Njabulo Blom and Keletso Sifama, is always competitive.
“They also have young people who are very capable,” he said.
“I really don’t think we should look at the Chiefs and feel sorry. Maybe the transition from one coach to another takes time because every transition takes time.
“Soon coach Gavin Hunt will be very competitive and I just hope he doesn’t get competitive against Arrows this weekend. He has to wait and then he can be competitive.”
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