- Clarewood coach Deane has eyes on a meeting with Chiefs
- The club face Mpheni in the Nedbank Cup Round of 32
- Amakhosi have previously struggled against lower-tier sides
WHAT HAPPENED? Deane, who recently joined lower league side Clarewood JPM, said he wants his players to experience how it feels like to play against the Glamour Boys, who are the team he supported as a boy.
Chiefs will face Maritzburg United in the Round of 32 of the competition on Friday, hoping to get past the Team of Choice to get the next round.
Deane is keeping his fingers crossed that he will be paired with Amakhosi should both sides advance to the last 16.
The Soweto giants have exited the competition at the first round in the last two seasons and will be hoping that it is not a hat-trick of heartbreaks while Clarewood will draw encouragement from the fact that Chiefs’ record against lower league opponents in the competition is very poor, were they to meet.
Chiefs last won a trophy in 2015 and the Nedbank Cup represents their only hope for silverware this season given Orlando Pirates have already won the MTN8 while Mamelodi Sundowns are on course to retaining their PSL title.
WHAT DID HE SAY? “I think for me, I want Kaizer Chiefs to be honest with you,” Deane said as quoted by Soccer Laduma.
“I think also being a student of this game, I started watching football at a very young age, being a Kaizer Chiefs supporter myself all these times.
“I looked up to all those players and the coaches they had. Shane McGregor, Rudolf Seale, Ntisie Khulu, Teenage Dladla and those players [are the reason why] I look at football and the passion it brings to me and to my players.
“It creates a good feel in and around our club when I talk to them about the past and how we could play football and how football should be played. So, yeah, I’d actually like to get Kaizer Chiefs to be honest with you.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Chiefs have previously experienced painful exits from the competition to lower league sides including between 2009 and 2011, when they were knocked out by University of Pretoria, Baroka FC and FC Cape Town.
They bounced back to win the competition in 2013, the last time they claimed it, but lost to Black Leopards in 2015, another lower league side then. It is perhaps why Deane would want his team to be drawn with Arthur Zwane’s side in the next round.
WHAT’S NEXT? Clarewood will have to first go past Mpheni Home Defenders on Saturday after Chiefs take on Maritzburg on Friday.
.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=640&quality=60)