Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs have finally confirmed Thursday’s worst-kept secret — that coach Stuart Baxter had been relieved of his duties.
“After a series of meetings, Kaizer Chiefs and coach Stuart Baxter have come to a mutual agreement of an early termination of his contract with immediate effect,” Chiefs said.
“In his second spell with Kaizer Chiefs, Baxter led the team in 23 matches, excluding three league matches in December 2021 [when Baxter was one of 50 Covid-19 cases at the club].
“He managed to win nine matches, draw six and lost eight of the games. The team managed to score 25 goals and conceded 23 in that time.
“Assistant coaches Arthur Zwane and Dillon Sheppard will take charge of the senior team for the remainder of the season, starting with the next match against Stellenbosch FC on Saturday 23 April 2022.
“We wish him well in the future,” said the club.
According to reports, the club’s Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Jnr told Baxter on Thursday that his tenure with Chiefs had come to an end.
Baxter, 68, has been fired after a streak of poor results with the latest being the 1-0 loss to a youthful side, SuperSport United this past weekend.
The team’s performance and the failure to grind positive results led to his criticism from a sector of the Chiefs supporters as well as the club’s former players.
Former Amakhosi defender Themba Seli was quoted in an article published by the KickOff Magazine on Wednesday expressing his disgruntlement over Baxter.
“This coach (Baxter) is too defensive and very scared to lose. To say he is the last coach to bring silverware to Naturena or the best coach in the last 20 years doesn’t mean anything. Big clubs don’t live on past glories or past achievements, every season they need to produce results.
“He must just leave as he has already failed. The league is gone, the MTN8 trophy is gone, the Nedbank Cup is gone so why is he still there? We should be building for next season with a new coach already.
“I don’t see him qualifying for the CAF Champions League, where are all these players that were bought in for him from Swallows and the other teams?”
Baxter who was having a second stint with the Gold and Black boys leaves the team fourth on the log standings.
Amakhosi have 39 points after 23 games and are 18 points behind log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.
Baxter managed 11 wins, six draws and nine defeats from 26 games he was in charge of across all competitions.
His contract with the Naturena based side was supposed to run until 2023 with an option to be extended.
He joined the club at the end of last season, making his return to the South African topflight side for his second stint.
He replaced Gavin Hunt who was also shown the exit door by the club after failing to beat giants Al Ahly in the champions league final.
