If ever there was need for a reminder about what has become of Kaizer Chiefs, then Thursday evening’s massacre at the hands of champions Mamelodi Sundowns did just that.
Chiefs crumbled like a deck of cards and so embarrassing was the defeat that it left them with their heaviest loss through the PSL era years.
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Though Amakhosi have lost by four-goal margins on several occasions before, they have never conceded five in any of those defeats.
Notable is that Sundowns have crushed Chiefs 4-0 before, just like Esperance and AmaZulu FC have done.
"Every team in the world gets a hiding sometimes," admitted caretaker boss Cavin Johnson after the match.
With the latest defeat, they are now out of contention for any continental football-related place with the best that they can aim for being a mere Top 8 finish and for that to happen, they must pick up points against TS Galaxy, AmaZulu, Polokwane City and Cape Town Spurs.
Johnson will walk out of the job at the end of the month having joined Stuart Baxter, Arthur Zwane and Molefi Ntseki in failing to beat Sundowns since the club’s last win under Gavin Hunt three years ago.
The caretaker coach has only won twice in his last dozen games in charge, which paints the sorry situation at Naturena right now.
Chiefs will now be unlikely to improve on the 44 points they garnered last season, which led to Arthur Zwane’s sacking.
If the Soweto giants don’t get more than 36 points this season, then this will count as the worst season ever for the club through the PSL era years.
They came stuck on 36 points in the 2020/21 season under Hunt, but it was a campaign in which they were banned from signing players and yet reached the final of the CAF Champions League.
The year 2023 was already the worst calendar year that Chiefs have ever had, so combined with the nine-year trophy drought, this has become a nightmare spell for the club.
"We have to regroup and make sure that we are positive and get the best results that we can in the next game.
"We learn from these mistakes and the wins as well.
"There are certain things that when you do you have to remember and there are certain things that you have to forget as a coach.
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"But you have to learn, and we learn every day, and I’m one of those human beings that is able to learn every day of my life.
"When you receive the scoreline that you received, then you probably learn the most, but you have to come back stronger," says Johnson.
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