The end of this coming weekend sees us taking on Bloemfontein Celtic in an exhibition game, which will take place in Port Elizabeth. After a week of inactivity, we are looking forward to limbering up this week for the challenge of Celtic.

The game against Celtic will see us minus a number of players - six in total, as a combination of Olympic Qualifying and CAF Africa Cup of Nations games will be busy in national team activities. This will mean that I will have the opportunity to throw into the fray, a number of other players who I am sure will relish the opportunity to play in front of a full stadium against Celtic.

The game against Celtic might be termed a friendly game but there will be nothing friendly when we get out onto the field of play, as this is the chance for players who feel that they need the opportunity to showcase their talents.

To be able to do just that and show what they have, it is a game with a trophy at stake and the competitive nature of the match should be enough to motivate the guys to give their all. It will also be an opportunity for our newly-signed player Thuso Phala to get a run out, and get used to playing with the other guys.

Thuso is unable to play in competitive matches for us until next season. This game being a friendly does afford us the opportunity to give him and induction into what he will be up against in the near future.

Over the past two weeks the fact that I have not had to prepare for any competitive matches, has worked out to be advantageous for me. That has given me the chance to have a look at our reserve and youth teams.

On the issue of the reserve team, I must add that I have been really impressed with the youth team players that have been playing for us in the reserve league. They have stood their ground with a number of outstanding performances and did not look out of depth last week against a stronger SuperSport team, or on Monday against an even tougher Orlando Pirates squad.

It is a good sign for the team that players such as Stephen Faba, Justice Pilusa, Gololo Bamose and Sihle Mbambo have been excelling in the reserves. It demonstrates that with so much homegrown talent at its disposal the future for Kaizer Chiefs is definitely a glittering one.

Sometime before the end of the current season I would like to give some of these young players a chance to play in a first team. I will wait for the opportune moment before giving them a run in the first team.

Back to the issue of Monday’s reserve team game against Pirates, I was pleased with our performance in the first 45 minutes where we really dominated the opposition and had them firmly on the back foot.

Thabo Mooki’s was outstanding from dead-ball situations scoring from on free-kick and rattling the post from another - that was all in the first-half. There were some good passing and nice attacking play from our side in the first-half and in the second half we were out of the game and it was always going to be just a matter of time before the opposition got onto the score sheet.

Inside the last five minutes Pirates were on the verge of winning the game, coming from a losing position. After scoring their second goal we sprung into action and got an equalizer. What the guys need to realize is that these are not friendly games and need to be taken seriously. Their performances in these games will really allow them to fight for a place in the first team.

I was not overall pleased by the way the team dissipated in the second half and was unable to keep control of the play as they did in the first period. I will be looking for an improvement for next weeks match.

The final thought or comment for this week is that as I explained when I came to the team a few weeks ago, my aim was to build a strong bond between the players and allow them to develop a strong camaraderie amongst each other.

Building a strong spirit amongst the team is ongoing and we have been successfully working towards developing a happy environment which the players enjoy working in.

My aim is to create an atmosphere where the players feel that they are important, and as well be able to bring the best out of them. In the three weeks that I have been at Chiefs, I have found the players to be very co-operative, we have an open relationship and I take their opinions seriously. As time progresses I hope that we will continue to build on the solid foundation laid down in the past three weeks and that the team as a result can grow from strength to strength.

Till next time, be well.

Kosta Papic


Kaizer Chiefs Head Coach