Former Kaizer Chiefs head coach Ernst Middendorp has sparked passionate conversations across Mzansi after being spotted at FNB Stadium during Amakhosi’s 0-0 draw with Siwelele FC.
The 66-year-old German, who’s currently unattached after leaving Durban City FC in mid-October, is no stranger to Naturena.
His last coaching job was with Cape Town Spurs in the Motsepe Foundation Championship before their relegation.
ERNST MIDDENDORP FOR KAIZER CHIEFS JOB
With Amakhosi’s co-coaches Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef struggling to steady the ship, just one win in nine matches across all competitions, talk of Middendorp’s return is spreading like wildfire among supporters. That single victory, a penalty shootout triumph over Angola’s Kabuscorp in the CAF Confederation Cup prelims, has done little to ease the pressure.
Ask some Amakhosi supporters who was the last coach who brought genuine belief post the glory years, and they will say Middendorp. He replaced Giovanni Solinas in December 2018 and immediately lifted the team’s attacking numbers, finishing that season with 35 goals in 25 matches, three more than the previous campaign under Steve Komphela, who was in charge of 35 games. Midddendorp even guided Amakhosi to the Nedbank Cup final, though Kaizer Chiefs lost heartbreakingly to TS Galaxy through a last-minute Zakhele Lepasa penalty.
LOSING THE 2019/20 SEASON TO MAMELODI SUNDOWNS ON THE FINAL DAY
The following season, Middendorp’s first full term, the Glamour Boys came within two points of winning the league title, scoring 66 goals across competitions and collecting big wins, including two over Orlando Pirates and a 2-0 dismantling of Mamelodi Sundowns.
Chatting about the causes that lost Amakhosi the league title in the final four matches during the Covid lockdown, the German later told the media their course to win the title was not helped by Amakhosi not beefing up the squad with “two or three key players” and revealed that a number of players were not at home when they were supposed to be training during the Covid-19 restrictions.
“We got lost no doubt about it, now we can talk about why when the break came in, the lockdown came in, more or less six, seven weeks later we had to start going into the bubble and finalise the season,” Middendorp told the media in 2022.
“Now what happened in the seven, eight weeks you had no control as a coach, everybody was online, everybody was at home, wherever. We thought they were at ‘home’ but as everybody knows, nobody is talking about (it) but a number of players were not at home, simple and easy,” Middendorp said.
Following his shock departure in 2020, Amakhosi’s finishes have told their own story: eighth, fifth, fifth, 10th and ninth.
So when fans saw “Mazinyo” in the stands on Wednesday night, social media lit up:
- @Kideo_Mah: “Mazinyo can win the league with those players at Chiefs.”
- @SbusisoMhlanga: “Bring back ‘Helicopter football’ once. Otherwise, we’re finishing outside top 8 again.”
- @lufunosjavo: “If he can help the team score goals, I’ll gladly welcome him. Watching Chiefs play these days is really frustrating.”
- @kgauza89495434: “I’d appreciate him a lot, he knows our culture and he’s the only coach that plays good football the last time he coached chiefs. We almost won the league until they played Dirty.”
- @gezanimax said: “This coach is far better than the current co-coaches. With the current squad, Ernest can manage to win one cup.”
- @lufunosjavo said: “If he can help the team score goals, I’ll gladly welcome him.”
But let’s clear the air about that ‘Helicopter football’ myth. Middendorp’s 2019/20 Kaizer Chiefs didn’t play route-one football; they played to their strengths. With tall, aggressive forwards like Samir Nurkovic and Leonardo Castro, he designed a style that maximised their aerial power and second-ball dominance. That’s called tactical intelligence, not long-ball desperation.
At his previous clubs, and even the ones after Amakhosi, he never used that so-called style simply because he didn’t have those players. The “Helicopter” label was exaggerated banter from rival fans of Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.
Right now, the decision-makers should act fast, Middendorp shouldn’t come in as a Technical Director but as head coach.
