Kaizer Chiefs head coach Fernando da Cruz has thanked Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Jr and the club’s board for publicly backing him following their elimination from the CAF Confederation Cup last week.
The statement of support came after Amakhosi’s continental campaign came to an end, with questions surrounding the team’s performances and results. Da Cruz has now explained that the club’s backing reflects ongoing discussions between the technical team and management rather than being based solely on individual results.
The Frenchman revealed that he meets with Motaung Jr every three weeks to assess the team and discuss the club’s broader project, insisting that the focus remains on improving performances regardless of whether Chiefs win, draw or lose.
“First thing I would like to thank the club for the statement, I would like to thank the Sporting Director and the whole board for the statement they made,” Da Cruz said.
“And then you must know, it’s very clear, inside the club, every three weeks, we have a meeting with the Sporting Director to speak about the team and the project of the club.
“The confidence he’s given us is very important for the daily work that we do, where even if we win, draw or lose, we need to analyse the situation very well.”
‘We’ve been very unlucky with injuries’
Da Cruz also stressed that the team’s elimination from continental competition had not changed his approach to the job, arguing that his assessment of his own coaching ability was not determined by a single result.
After the backing, Amakhosi responded with an impressive 3-0 win over TS Galaxy in their Carling Knockout Cup Last-16 clash on Tuesday, with Wandile Duba netting his first senior career hat-trick.
“In our meeting we always speak to improve the team every day, and today I’m not a better coach than last week just before we were eliminated from the CAF Confederation Cup,” he added.
“The board is there and the Sporting Director is there every day to see the commitment of the staff and the entire technical staff. When we analyse the situation you can see we have been unlucky because during all our draws that we made, we deserved to win.
“In terms of injuries, we have been very unlucky, we have many injured with contact injuries, so we’re very unlucky related to that.”