Despite his side leading the league by 11points, Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter is wary ahead of the Soweto derby.
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Stuart Baxter had a spring in his step and his sense of humour to the fore.
At the Carlton Centre on Thursday, the day after he had led Kaizer Chiefs to an emphatic 3-0 win over Bidvest Wits, with the runaway Absa Premiership leaders stamping their authority on the game following two successive draws, the Englishman was coolness personified.
So relaxed was the Amakhosi coach that an uninformed observer would not have picked up that he was facing a match with the potential to stall his team’s unbeaten run – today’s clash against Orlando Pirates at the FNB Stadium (3.30pm).
Uncharacteristically dressed down in jeans, sneakers and a shirt, Baxter was aware that most of the media gathered at the pre-Soweto Derby press conference found his dress code strange. He was quick to put them at ease.
“Let me just apologise for being dressed in this way,” he said as he sat down for interviews at a popular restaurant in the heart of the centre that boasts the continent’s tallest building. “My suits are at the dry cleaner’s and he is (an Orlando) Pirates supporter.”
Earlier on, asked a question on Twitter by a Chiefs fan, Baxter’s response drew laughter all round.
“I don’t think I can say anything that assures you we will get the three points,” he answered. “If you want assurance, I suggest you take an insurance policy.”
Such are the benefits of being in charge of a side on a roll – little stress and plenty of laughter.
Yes, it is too early in the season for anyone associated with the Chiefs to start thinking the title is theirs. But when you are enjoying an 11-point lead at the top of the table and have been unbeaten in 13 league matches, you are bound to be at ease. That your arch-rivals, whom you are facing next, are two points further behind and have just lost their coach no doubt adds to the sense of nonchalance.
What it doesn’t do, however, is give Baxter an undue sense of confidence that success is guaranteed.
Far from it, for the former Bafana Bafana coach has been in the game long enough to know that they don’t come as great a leveller as the country’s biggest football match.
It is for this reason that he pointed out that his team would take a different approach from that which brought them their biggest league win of the season on Wednesday.
“The Derby is an extremely emotional affair. Often the unexpected occurs and makes a mockery of preconceived notions,” he said after the Wits match.
“We will take note of this in our planning and prepare accordingly as best we can.”
Team captain Tefu Mashamaite spoke of the need to stick to what they knew best, the stature of this afternoon’s clash at the FNB Stadium notwithstanding.
“For us, the key is to keep defending as we always have – to defend our box and our goal as a unit. We just need to stick to the basics. There’ll be nothing special for this match,” said Mashamaite.
That the Pirates come into the match on the back of turmoil that saw coach Vladimir Vermezovic resign following Tuesday’s 2-1 reversal against Maritzburg United doesn’t give Chiefs any false sense of a guaranteed victory.
“It doesn’t matter what happened at Pirates. They won’t be thinking about what has been happening at their club. In fact, they are wounded and because of that they will be dangerous to play against.”
Fortunately for Chiefs, their coach is in a good frame of mind and will no doubt ensure that the players keep their cool, too. - Saturday Star
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