The legendary goalkeeper tactician alleged that the sacked manager did not get on well with his players during his time at the club
Former Kaizer Chiefs head coach Joseph Setlhodi has claimed Gavin Hunt orchestrated his downfall at the Premier Soccer League side.
Hunt saw his three-year deal terminated before the 2020/21 season ended and Setlhodi has alleged that the coach did not get on well with players and that is why the Soweto club struggled.
“In football, in order to get the results and to win trophies, you first have to win the players,” the Chiefs legend told Soccer Laduma.
“Put the players into your pocket and zip the pocket so that you know that you are safe. But if you go alone and talk bad about the players, they will destroy you. I’m talking from experience, and I know exactly what I am talking about.
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“Look at what happened at Chiefs [under Hunt], it is not because those players are not good that they have been performing badly like they have been doing, but it was because of the attitude of the coach. As a coach, you don’t have to listen to the players too often, but they have a right to talk to you and raise their issues.
“You don’t have to overlook them, and you have to make them feel that they are part of you.”
In explaining why Chiefs struggled, Setlhodi gave an example of goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune and Lebogang Manyama who were not in their usual top form.
“The way I see it, there were very few players who wanted to play for Hunt. Look, when you watched [Lebogang] Manyama playing, you could sense that he was not himself,” he added.
“If you looked at [Itumeleng] Khune between the sticks, he was not himself, because already he knew that next season he wouldn’t be in the menu of Gavin Hunt. I’m talking about the senior players that can change things and win the game for you. I will tell you an example about myself when I took over at Kaizer Chiefs as a coach in 1981.
“I was a player and playing with the very same players that I coached. At that time, I was a reserve goalkeeper to Peta Bala’c. Whatever I did, I did it with the players. I was not alone in making things.”
Hunt was appointed Amakhosi head coach in September 2020 and, despite the PSL struggles, he managed to help them qualify for the Caf Champions League semi-finals.
