Baxter: Covid-19 nightmare denied Chiefs chance to pressurise Sundowns

Stuart Baxter has rued Kaizer Chiefs' nightmare Covid-19 outbreak in December, a repercussion of which was that a club that had appeared capable of pressurising runaway DStv Premiership leaders Mamelodi Sundowns will be denied that opportunity.

Chiefs, under a new coach in Baxter in the former Bafana boss's second stint, and with multiple new signings, battled for fluency at the start of 2021-22.

They entered December hitting near-metronomic form that was reminiscent of how Amakhosi would grind out results when Baxter oversaw two doubles in three years in 2012-13 and 2014-15. Amakhosi had suffered two defeats, won seven games and drawn one in 10 league matches when the club was hit by 31 cases of Covid-19, which grew to more than 50.

Chiefs did not honour two games — at home to Cape Town City and away against Lamontville Golden Arrows. Somehow, derailed by multiple players and coaching staff — including Baxter — positive or isolating, they won two and lost one before the Christmas and Africa Cup of Nations break.

“I think that it would be easy for me to grasp that as an excuse,” Baxter said. “Global football has been suffering. What I would say is that many leagues have been learning as they have gone along. They've made a ruling and then they've realised, 'We've got to be more flexible than that'.

“I would just hope that we can do that in SA. And I realise there's arbitration and all these things so I can't say too much. But I would hope that would be what comes out of this — that we move along with the knowledge we have of the situation.

“I don't think there's anybody in the Premiership who had anywhere near what we had. But there have been clubs who had their games postponed and rearranged.

“I hope that we get to that point. If we don't we'll have to deal with it. I'm not going to use it as an excuse. “But it would have been absolutely nice to have played those games and to exact a bit more pressure on Sundowns, because at the moment they're playing with no-one breathing down their necks.

“Chiefs — and it is hypothetical, because you have to play the games — potentially could have been doing that.”

Chiefs have taken the Premier Soccer League executive committee's rejection of their application to have their matches in December postponed to arbitration at the SA Football Association.

The events of December have left the underachieving giants — desperate for silverware from six seasons without it — salvaging their campaign, and Chiefs might be left always wondering what might have been.

“I hope not,” Baxter said. “I hope I'm big and ugly enough to put that behind me no matter what happens. I don't want to carry that stone. I'll put that down if it goes that way. And then I just hope that whatever comes out of it we learn and we adapt.”

Chiefs return from the break with their Nedbank Cup last-32 clash against TS Galaxy at FNB Stadium on February 12.

In the league, Amakhosi have slipped to fourth place, 16 points behind leaders Sundowns and facing losing the chance to regain six of those points once their arbitration and disciplinary committee hearing into the two matches they missed have been completed.

They make their Premiership return on Tuesday February 15 against Cape Town City at Cape Town Stadium.