Baxter explains WHY Chiefs have made a sluggish start to 2022

Kaizer Chiefs embarrassingly crashed out of the Nedbank Cup at the first real hurdle, losing 1-0 at TS Galaxy, and Amakhosi then played out to a draw on their return to the DStv Premiership against Cape Town City on Tuesday.

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Judging by fan reaction – as reported by The South African website – Amakhosi supporters are quickly growing tired of Baxter who is in his second stint at the Soweto giants, and some have even started a petition calling for him to be axed.

Chiefs will only be in action again at the end of February

Chiefs are still third on the league standings, and Baxter won’t be panicking based on all his experience as a coach, while he has suggested the extended festive break is to be blamed for his charges remaining winless in 2022.

“The mixture of not playing for a while [played a role] and [that] some of them had not played a game 48 hours prior,” Baxter told the club’s media department.

“Some of them were in camp here in Cape Town with the club, while some of them played in the Compact Cup. Players are still really recovering from that.

“Some of them have played four games, and some of them have played 15 minutes. So, it is a difficult one to set up, but I thought most of them ran out of the game (against Cape Town City) well.

“We will miss a week but play a friendly game against SuperSport, and hopefully we get everybody up to speed and then have a go for the rest of the season,” said Baxter.

Chiefs will next be in action on Saturday, 26 February, and would be expected to claim a comfortable win against relegation-threatened Baroka FC.

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