The Amakhosi tactician was remorseful after the heavy home loss on Saturday and asked for forgiveness from the multitude of club fans
Former Bafana Bafana coach Clive Barker says it was “silly” for Stuart Baxter to apologise after the 4-1 Premier Soccer League defeat by Royal AM, and that the fans will always expect similar gestures if things do not go their way.
Baxter was quick to acknowledge regret on Saturday as he described the result as an “embarrassment.”
In his apology, the Chiefs coach bemoaned his players’ “naivety” as he explained how they lost it against the PSL newboys, but Barker sees that as excuses which the Briton should desist from.
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“One other thing I didn’t like is when he [Baxter] apologised to the supporters,” Barker told KickOff.
“I mean, you must never apologise to the supporters because they will expect you to do that every time. So I thought it was a silly thing to apologise, saying ‘I’m sorry for the performance.’ He must just sit back and coach the players and not make any excuses.”
After elimination from the MTN8 at the quarter-final level, Chiefs have now won just one league match, shared spoils once and lost twice.
It appears to be a continuation of their domestic troubles from last season where they had to seal a top-eight finish on the last day of the season.
Barker says the Soweto giants have become a pale shadow of their former selves where opponents would concede defeat before facing Chiefs.
“They used to be one of the main contenders for the league and Cups,” said Barker.
“I remember the days when we used to walk down a stadium’s corridors, and by just looking at them, you knew something was going to happen that day, now things have changed.
“If you were playing in a cup match, you always wanted to play Chiefs because they gave you a good atmosphere, but the control and the domination in the Chiefs players is no longer there.
“So that has changed. In the past, you were one-nil down to Chiefs before it even started. That has turned around over the years.”
Chiefs will now attempt to correct their difficult patch of form when they visit Marumo Gallants on Sunday.
