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Baxter reveals reasons for Chiefs exit
"When I came back there was a lot of work to do, not because the coaches before me had not done the job properly"
Stuart Baxter says he could have finished second if he had stayed in charge at Chiefs. Picture: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix.
Former Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter has revealed the reasons behind his sudden departure from the Naturena club. While he didn’t give the specifics, Baxter revealed that an irreparable working relationship was the main reason for him to leave.
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In an interview with SABC Sport, the British mentor said he had come back to Amakhosi because he truly believed he could help the team back to the top. Amakhosi had last won any trophy during his first stint at the club which ended in 2015.
“First of all, my history with Chiefs is something that I think is special,” Baxter is quoted as saying. “It has a special place in my heart, and my experiences with Chiefs until coming back were only positive… only filled with happiness, with passion, with motivation, with a relationship with supporters and the players I had worked with.
“It’s important that I make that point. That’s why I came back. That’s why I considered coming back because you try not to go back to places you have worked before.
“When I came back, I knew what had been going on before. I knew what happened before I came the first time, I knew what happened since I left and I just got this passion to do what I could to put things right.
“To pull things back together again…so that’s the second point. And everything that had been said between me and Chiefs led me to believe that that would be the case.
“When I came back there was a lot of work to do, not because the coaches before me had not done the job properly. But because the circumstances were still that there was an embargo (the Fifa ban), then there was Covid,” said Baxter
He then revealed that before he could achieve all of that, the working conditions became unworkable and they decided to part ways.
“I have to say, the conditions became not so conducive for either me or Chiefs. So, we sat down and agreed to part company. And that is sad for me because of what I’ve just said. Therefore, I would have liked to continue because I think we could’ve finished in second place.
“I don’t know where in the table the team will finish now, but I just think that there’s a sadness on my side that we didn’t get to do that. It wasn’t the way I had thought it would be when I came back. As things unfolded it wasn’t what I thought It would be.”
