Khama Billiat Kaizer Chiefs August 2019

Kaizer Chiefs and Zimbabwe need to talk about Billiat - Jambo

Former Kaizer Chiefs defender Jimmy Jambo says better communication between Kaizer Chiefs and Zimbabwe should have been applied to manage an unfit Khama Billiat reporting for international duty.

Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp twice registered his displeasure when Billiat returned injured from the Zimbabwe national team camp in September and November respectively.

Interestingly in both instances, Billiat proved instrumental for Zimbabwe, saving their 2022 Fifa World Cup and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaigns with crucial goals.

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Jambo feels there could have been better handling of Billiat’s issue between Middendorp and former Zimbabwe caretaker coach Joey Antipas.

“It’s just communication between the two coaches, something that they need to talk about. I don’t think it’s something bigger than it seems,” Jambo was quoted as saying by Far Post.

“It’s a just miscommunication of the coach needing to talk to another coach on the other side on how best they can manage the player.

“They both need the player. So it’s about how they find the balance. He would like to play for his country as much as he likes to play for Chiefs.

“It’s just player management that both need to be part of communication wise. Khama is important for Zimbabwe. You can see if he is there. He is the one who scored two goals against Zambia.

“A national team coach is fighting for his own life so he wouldn’t think of taking Khama out. At the end of the day, if it’s all communicated well, it would be good.”

Billiat did not feature in Kaizer Chiefs’ last league match against Bloemfontein Celtic with fatigue cited for his absence.

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