Cavin Johnson: I’d be honoured to coach Kaizer Chiefs!

Last week it was dramatically confirmed that Stuart Baxter – who was in his second stint with Kaizer Chiefs – had been officially shown the door by Amakhosi.

The announcement was reportedly made to the technical team by sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jnr on Thursday morning, with assistant coaches Arthur Zwane and Dillion Sheppard taking over for the remainder of the season.

“After a series of meetings, Kaizer Chiefs and coach Stuart Baxter have come to a mutual agreement of an early termination of his contract with immediate effect,” a statement read. “In his second spell with Kaizer Chiefs, Baxter has led the team in 23 matches (excluding 3 league matches in December 2021). He managed to win 9 matches, draw 6 and lost 8 of the games. The team managed to score 25 goals and concede 23 during that time.“

MIXED REACTION: SOCIAL MEDIA EXPLODES AFTER BAXTER’S CHIEFS AXING

Kaizer Chiefs embarrassingly crashed out of the Nedbank Cup earlier this season, while they have managed just 11 wins from 26 matches in the DStv Premiership to be left stranded in fourth position.

Judging by fan reaction – as reported by The South African website – Amakhosi supporters had quickly growing tired of Baxter, and some even started a petition calling for him to be axed some time ago.

However, there was also mixed reaction on social media following the news on Thursday, with certain supporters suggesting it was not fair for Baxter to be made the scapegoat for the team’s struggles.

It remains to be seen who Chiefs will turn to next, but there have been some calls for consideration to be given to Cavin Johnson, who most recently served as an assistant with Al Ahly under head coach and compatriot Pitso Mosimane.

“Whatever the people are saying, I’m honoured to be associated with such a big brand,” Johnson tells KickOff.

“If the opportunity presents itself then I would be honoured and would do my best.

“We all know that in the SADC region Chiefs are the biggest team. So they [Al Ahly and Kaizer Chiefs] are both big teams and to work within such big teams requires a different mentality, you learn a lot.

“But at the same time, there’s a lot of pressure at big teams where you need to perform well. At these big teams, you need to have the right product on the pitch as the game is 11 versus 11, and not to say because Al Ahly they are the biggest team in North Africa they can put 12 players on the pitch.

“As I say I will be honoured if I can be mentioned in the same sentence as such a huge brand as the Chiefs job.”

READ | BAXTER: I’LL WALK AWAY IF I’M NOT MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT AT CHIEFS