It’s something that appeals to me: Johnson on Chiefs’ coaching job

Kaizer Chiefs interim coach Cavin Johnson has addressed the possibility of him taking over the job in a permanent deal.   

Johnson, who has overseen two matches since replacing sacked Molefi Ntseki, registered his first victory when Chiefs defeated Cape Town Spurs 3-2 at an empty FNB Stadium on Wednesday.   

The game was played behind closed doors due to a ban the Premier Soccer League (PSL) imposed on Amakhosi because of repeated misbehaviour by spectators.   

Edson Castillo, Ranga Chivaviro and Christian Saile scored for Johnson’s men, while Luvuyo Phewa and Luke Baartman found the back of the net for Spurs.   

After the game, Johnson, who was roped in as the club’s head of academy in September, was asked if he would be interested in the position on a full-time basis.   

“It’s something that appeals to me, but there’s something bigger that appeals to me at Kaizer Chiefs,” Johnson said.   

“I have been to some of the biggest teams in the world and I’ve worked with one of the biggest teams in the world.   

“And when I say this team [Chiefs] has got that potential, I think you need to bring [some things] from a bigger team and put it into this team, but not as a head coach.   

“The head coach will always be changed at any club, but I feel that this team is not where it is supposed to be and maybe with my little knowledge, I think this team can be as big as it should be.   

“So, whether I’m the head coach or interim coach, I’ve come to this team because there’s something that nobody else has and I say that with respect to all other clubs in the PSL,” he said.   

“It’s Kaizer Motaung, Chincha Guluva, the only man in the world who has built the club, still owns the club and the only man in SA who has an institution like the village.   

“I think that needs to be exposed to the rest of the world. The result, yes, but just the cloth that goes through that village,” the coach said.   

Having worked for Egyptian giants Al Ahly, who are counted among the top clubs in the world, as an assistant to coach Pitso Mosimane, Johnson believes Amakhosi have what it takes to reach that level.   

“By the cloth [I mean] the people that work for him [Motaung], how they work for him and why they work for this team. And what the aim for this team is going forward for many generations to come,” he said.   

“When I look and I compare examples, Al Ahly, when I look at the young players, they know the generations that won Ahly trophies. When I look at the young generations of Kaizer Chiefs, they don’t know the generations of [Patrick] Ace Ntsoelengoe and that is the cloth that has to go through this club that we know of.”   

The victory against Spurs is a big morale boost for Chiefs ahead of the Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates at FNB Stadium on Saturday (3.30pm).