It’s the build-up week for the Soweto derby, this time with an open schedule due to the absence of midweek games in the Premier League, leaving a few free days for excess hype to focus on Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
Listen: What is the boiling point for Chiefs and Zwane in the Soweto derby?
The Soweto derby is always an event, with 90 000 people packed into the FNB Stadium, whether a team is circling the abyss of mediocrity (see Kaizer Chiefs) or finds some form but is still not challenging for the league title (see Orlando Pirates) .
For Amakhosi head coach Arthur Zwane, the crowd of Chiefs supporters packed into the ground could prove to be the biggest headache since becoming the permanent head coach.
There were already boos for Zwane in Sunday’s 3-2 home defeat against the Golden Arrows, where supporters were far fewer. Chiefs are generally supportive of the “project” under Zwane, but at Chiefs, once the fans have turned on you, it’s hard to see a way back.
Like Graham Potter and Chelsea, it is difficult to see what the Çhiefs “project” is. Younger players, like Mduduzi Shabalala, have been thrown into the mix and have done well, but results have continued to be dire, even for a rebuilding team.
A derby win can provide an immediate balm for Zwane, and there is every chance Amakhosi will win a game where form often flies out of the window. Pirates have done well this year, apart from losing at home to Mamelodi Sundowns, although to be fair, right now, everyone is losing to the Masandawana Bullet Train.
Pirates verve
Jose Riveiro appears to have finally found the right attacking spirit in his team, helped by the return to form of Monnapule Saleng and the return from injury of Thembinkosi Lorch.
Buccaneers could be the team that ends up finishing second behind Sundowns and a place in next season’s Caf Champions League.
That should be enough for Riveiro to keep his place on the Pirates hot seat, having won the MTN8 this season and the Nedbank Cup still a possibility.
For Zwane, things look different, even with the support of the Chiefs hierarchy and with the love that still lingers in the hearts of Chiefs fans from his days as a great player.
The problem is that great players don’t necessarily make great head coaches, as Frank Lampard has already known at Chelsea and Everton.
Signs of the impatience of Chiefs supporters are beginning to slip out and there should be a chance this will spill over if Amakhosi are embarrassed by Pirates on Saturday.
Steve Komphela’s fate as Chiefs head coach was sealed after fans rioted following the Nedbank Cup semi-final loss to Free State Stars in 2018. If it were to heat up at the FNB Stadium, Chiefs might not want to sack the head coach, but in some ways the hand could be forced by any hostility much to Zwane.
A “project” is all very good, but without some kind of clear path forward, including results, it can quickly turn down.