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Kaizer Chiefs finally showed the door to hugely polarizing coach Ernst Middendorp on Wednesday afternoon after days of incredible pressure from upset fans.
The decision to fire the German came just days after the Chiefs meekly handed over the league title to rivals Mamelodi Sundowns after leading the standings for nearly a year.
Club president Kaizer Motaung and his management conducted a review of the tumultuous fuel mentor regime this week and chose to show him the door with immediate effect.
“We deliberate and consider many aspects of the team, including our way of playing, our performances and the results before making the decision,” Motaung said.
“We really believed and hoped that our 50th anniversary would be better, and it actually looked promising. The decision taken is part of a strategy for the team to win trophies again and make our fans happy because they deserve better ”.
The Chiefs have not won a trophy since the departure of Stuart Baxter after the 2014-15 season, where the coach had brought the club its second league and cup double in three years.
Middendorp joined the club in December 2018 and led the team to ninth position in Absa’s Premier League table a few months later. The Chiefs also secured a spot in the Nedbank Cup final, but even this feat ended in great embarrassment for Motaung.
The Chiefs were beaten 1-0 by the humble TS Galaxy in the final in Durban and Motaung admitted that his club’s embarrassing loss was the lowest point of his career as president of the ailing team.
Motaung revealed at the time that he was struggling to recover from the humiliation of losing a major cup final to a lower-tier club than they were highly favored to sideline.
“I must say that it is the lowest point for me as club president because we have never lost a cup final to a club in the First National Division.
“I’m still traumatized even now and I’m still trying to recover,” he said at the time.
Motaung said Wednesday that they had done enough to help Middendorp during his time at the helm, but in the end, he did not deliver.
“After giving the coach and the technical team the ammunition needed to compete in the new season‚ there were some improvements ‚and this became evident during the first seven months of this 2019/2020 season.
“However, when the league restarted after the lockout, things turned around, and we looked like a totally different side in our last eight league games.
“We witnessed some heart-breaking performances and we were outclassed in the last game of the season, which really broke our hearts. We have to take responsibility, we cannot wait and allow this situation to continue.”
The future of Middendorp’s assistant Shaun Bartlett will be decided at a later stage.
Motaung thanked Middendorp and wished him all the best for the future.
“We pride ourselves on having built a strong legacy and a culture based on winning,” he said.
“We are aware that the fans are suffering, and the clamor is too loud to ignore. It is important that our loyal fans know that we feel their pain. We are an organization that listens and we respect your right to express dissatisfaction with the overall performance of the team.
“Even though we are hurt, we must remember that the key principle of loyalty is to show unity and stand together in solidarity when the going gets tough.”
The team has had time off and will return before the end of September to begin preparing for the next season.
“We will announce the new coach before the team returns for preseason training,” Motaung said.
– TimesLIVE
