Africa-Press – South-Africa. After three years in the Kaizer Chiefs senior team, learning the trade and waiting for his chance at a start between the posts for the Soweto giants, Itumeleng Khune finally got his shot in August 2007 against Jomo Cosmos.
It was a month after celebrating his 20th birthday when then-coach Muhsin Ertugral gave Khune a taste of top-flight football.
From then onwards, “Spiderkid”, as club fans affectionately nicknamed him after legendary Chiefs goalkeeper Brian “Spiderman” Baloyi, became a stalwart for Amakhosi.
Khune’s name is etched into the history of the Glamour Boys, mainly as he played a crucial part in helping the club earn over a dozen major trophies in the modern era.
That trophy-laden spell soon ended in 2015, the last year Amakhosi celebrated under a shower of confetti with the glow of fireworks beaming off the Premiership trophy.
Last weekend, after Chiefs suffered a 3-2 defeat against Golden Arrows in the Dstv Premiership, club fans took matters into their own hands.
After the final whistle, they made their feelings known by calling for the sack of head coach Athur Zwane, to the point that security had to personally guide staff and players off the Peter Mokaba Stadium pitch for safety concerns.
“All I can say to our supporters is, yes, we have been asking for patience, but again they need to understand there have been different coaches in the past seasons,” Khune told reporters ahead of the Soweto derby league clash on Saturday.
“The club has delivered certain coaches the supporters recommended and some of the players they wanted to come in. So, everyone who has come in needs time to settle.”
Chiefs were knocked out early in this season’s MTN competition and had to swallow a bitter pill in witnessing arch-rivals Orlando Pirates claim the honours.
The DStv Premiership title already has Mamelodi Sundowns’ name written on the trophy base for a sixth consecutive season. They are 22 points clear at the top of the league standings, with ten games remaining.
That leaves the Nedbank Cup title, which Amakhosi still have a chance of winning and they are set to face Casric Stars in the last 16.
“We understand Kaizer Chiefs is not the club to wait [for a long time to win titles] – you have to play every match to win and challenge for the silverware.
“But when you have players who are new in the set-up, it becomes our responsibility, as leaders and players who have been there, to guide them.
“It’s never easy, and it won’t take just one game to turn things around. It will take quite some time.”
The 35-year-old has also come to the defence of Zwane and the club’s inconsistent performances.
Chiefs hold an underwhelming Premiership record of eight wins, four draws and eight defeats after 20 matches played.
“If you look at European clubs, they are patient with coaches and players because they know the team is building.
“Yes, we haven’t been winning silverware, but the squad we have now, compared to the previous squad, I think is ready to compete.
“If we can be given more time, come next season, we should be able to win everything on offer.”
Khune added: “In the 2012/13 season, we were sweeping everything because we had a new coach [Baxter] and most Bafana Bafana players who were playing at Chiefs, such as Tsepo Masilela, Bernard Parker, Siboniso ‘Pa’ Gaxa, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Reneilwe ‘Yeye’ Letsholonyane and myself.
“Now we have strong, young and aspiring players who want to win silverware. That is what we talk about every day at work — that we want to win trophies.
“We promise our supporters things will turn around at some point.”
The FNB Stadium will host the Soweto derby, with the match kicking off at 15:30 on Saturday.
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