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It may have got lost among the outcry following Ajax Cape Town's relegation from the South African top-flight 'via the boardroom', but Kaizer Chiefs had their own bit of significant news filtering through on Tuesday. The Amakhosi powers-that-be have taken the decision to call off the club's annual awards ceremony after a 2017-18 season in which they yet again failed to lift any silverware, lost their coach and, most shockingly, saw their supporters almost destroy Moses Mabhida Stadium. The club's disgruntled fans probably reckon that the right decision has been taken, but true supporters should feel aggrieved. After all, is the sense of entitlement so strong among the suits at Naturena that finishing third is no longer an 'achievement'? Yes, they have gone three seasons without a trophy, but are other clubs not allowed to be more consistent than them across the course of a season, or better in one-off cup clashes? By not holding an awards ceremony the club management are effectively blaming the players for not achieving the goals set for them and the coaches. However, that also shows that the bosses are not being honest enough about the fact that Amakhosi squads of the last three seasons just haven't been good enough to win trophies.  Perhaps they've got to the point where it's too boring to hand out the main prizes to Itumeleng Khune, Siphiwe Tshabalala and Willard Katsande again. The ageing trio remain the club's best players by some distance, thanks largely to some poor transfer business in recent years. But why must Khune, Tshabalala and Katsande be punished for not being able to carry their teammates to trophies they don't deserve to win? Also, how must youth graduate Wiseman Meyiwa feel about not being recognised as the club's Young Player of the Season when they are making such noise about the improvements in their development programme? And what about Ryan Moon, who arrived at the club as their most unheralded signing, but would be a shoe-in for the Most Improved or Rookie award? Not forgetting the loyal supporters ... the ones that travel up and down the country and don't destroy stadiums or hurl missiles at the coach or beat up security when their poorly-staffed team fail to win against lesser lights like Chippa United, Free State Stars or Golden Arrows. Kaizer Chiefs management should have sucked up their pride and held their customary end-of-season awards, and then dealt with those who didn't deserve to be awarded for their efforts after... as they planned on doing with Steve Komphela, who jumped ship before he could be made to walk the plank.
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