Bobby Motaung is just a messenger who does not decide which players Kaizer Chiefs must buy.
That was the view of Kaizer Chiefs chairman Kaizer Motaung about his son, who is the football manager at the Amakhosi.
Bobby Motaung has come under fire from fans on social media, who are frustrated with the lack of silverware at Naturena over the last few years.
The continuing poor performance was summed up by Chiefs going down to NFD side TS Galaxy in the Nedbank Cup final recently, having already finished a lowly ninth in the league.
After Steve Komphela resigned, Chiefs took their time to appoint a replacement, and came up with the unlikely figure of Italian Giovanni Solinas, a former Free State Stars mentor.
Solinas was duly fired last December after a miserable time, and he was replaced by a former Chiefs coach in German Ernst Middendorp.
But the results weren’t consistent enough, with the Glamour Boys ending outside the top eight in the Premiership.
But speaking on Wednesday, Kaizer Motaung defended his son.
“He wouldn’t be there (at Naturena) if we were not happy with him‚” Motaung was quoted as saying by TimesLIVE on the sidelines of the ICASA hearings into sports broadcasting in Centurion.
“You must go back in history where we started to now‚ we are all party to failure today and we can’t put it on an individual.
“Even on the question of buying players‚ it is not Bobby who buys players.
“He is just a messenger‚ he is part of a collective that sits with the technical staff and he is told where to go.
“He is not the man who decides who to buy.”
Kaizer Motaung was also not clear on whether Middendorp would continue, after the coach was absent from the Carling Cup launch on Tuesday.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Amakhosi4Life?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Amakhosi4Life pic.twitter.com/VmONZMwb8m
— Kaizer Chiefs (@KaizerChiefs)
Motaung cited Liverpool’s failure to win the Premier League title for a few decades – having last been English champions in the 1989/90 season when it was known as the First Division – as a reference point.
“It was an internal thing‚” Motaung said about Middendorp’s absence.
“Initially the Orlando Pirates coach was not available according to the set-up, and we agreed that it was going to be assistant coaches.
“A few days ago they said their assistant coach was not available, and their coach was available.
“We told them that we can’t change because we had already arranged for our assistant coach to attend.
“We are going to reveal our plans about everything at the club in the next three weeks.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/ICASA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ICASAsubmissions in Centurion - PSL delegation led by Chairman Dr Khoza together with EXCO Member, Mr Kaizer Motaung pic.twitter.com/bSF6e04QEy
— Official PSL (@OfficialPSL)
“I understand the logic and sentiments of the fans‚ they have a right not to come to the Carling Black Label Cup match, but genuine supporters will be there.
“If you go to England‚ some of teams have not won the league for more than 20 years but their stadiums are full every week regardless of whether they are bottom of the log or not.
“Liverpool has not won the league for 30 years, but Anfield is full every weekend.
“We understand the sentiments that we have not won anything over the past four years, but we have to something and rectify the situation.”