Looking for Soccer News?
'Not true that Rhulani and I don't see eye to eye' - Kaizer Chiefs' Baxter
The veteran tactician insists there is no strained relationship between him and his Sunday rival
Kaizer Chiefs head coach Stuart Baxter has denied that he does not have a good relationship with Mamelodi Sundowns co-head coach Rhulani Mokwena.
In Friday's press conference ahead of Sunday's PSL meeting between the two sides at the Lucas Moripe Stadium, the experienced tactician took the opportunity to shed light on the issue.
He has insisted there is professional respect between him and the Brazilians' coach.
"I don’t know where anybody got the idea that Rhulani and I don’t see eye to eye," Baxter said as quoted by iDiskiTimes.
"I think probably on footballing terms we see the game being played in a way the global game is being played and we don’t hide behind our own opinions as being the gospel as written by the coaches. I don’t see that.
"Rhulani might chop me down now and say ‘I hate the old son’ but I’ve never felt that. There is professional respect between me and Rhulani as far as I am concerned."
Meanwhile, Baxter has revealed Amakhosi are closely monitoring Keagan Dolly and Khama Billiat ahead of their forthcoming assignment against the defending champions.
The tactician was worried about Dolly's weight, while the latter has been involved in the international week when he featured for Zimbabwe against South Africa and Ethiopia.
"We got Lebo [Manyama] back into normal training. We’re managing [Dolly] and how much he can play, we’re managing [Billiat]. He has played a few times for the national team, so I’m guessing he is fully integrated into the squad now," Baxter told the same portal.
He further gave updates on several other players ahead of the vital assignment against Sundowns.
"We’ve got Leonardo Castro, who is still in Colombia. He can’t do any sort of rehab yet after his operation. He is totally immobilised at the moment. That one is way down the road," he continued.
"Daniel [Akpeyi] is on his way back from Nigeria, but he didn’t pick up any injuries. Brandon [Petersen] had a little bit of a tweak, but he has trained... He looked very good, we will see how he reacts [on Friday].
"You can always still pick up injuries between today and the game but at this moment this is what we’ve got."
Both Chiefs and Sundowns have collected four points from their opening two league matches.
