Hunt left Kaizer Chiefs ‘in a better place’ than he found them

Former Kaizer Chiefs coach Gavin Hunt believes “the most important thing” of his tenure at Chloorkop was leaving them in “a better place” than when he arrived at the club.

Hunt was fired as Amakhosi coach at the end of May after eight months in charge.

It was a spell of mixed fortunes which saw Chiefs struggle on the domestic front but participated in the Caf Champions League group stage for the first time ever under Hunt, before he was sacked when he had guided them into the quarter-finals.  

The Soweto giants then went past Wydad Casablanca in the semi-finals just after Hunt had left and they now prepare to face Al Ahly in the final after Stuart Baxter was appointed as his successor.

Hunt had inherited a team serving a transfer ban and a squad that was reeling from a near-miss in the Premier Soccer League title race the previous season.  

“Well, I like to always think that when I’ve left the place, you leave it in a better place than when you came here. And that’s the most important thing,” Hunt told iDiski Times.

“I mean, obviously last season, we can talk, we can say all in the Champions League was an unbelievable achievement.

“[But] the less said the better, you know. I mean it’s the biggest club in this country, and it was an opportunity that we just needed to get through this phase. And then, you know, I’m sure it would have been better.   

“As I said, we move on to the new venture. Let me think and move forward. That’s also the good thing, because I’m gonna come with people that will work with [me] and there’s a big opportunity.” 

After nearly two months without a job, Hunt has since found a new home at Chippa United where he was unveiled on Wednesday. 

He has assumed a job in which most coaches do not last long and the championship-winning tactician is aware of what he got himself into. 

“Obviously the chairman Mr Chippa Mpengesi has been talking to me. We all know the history of Chippa, it’s been a very chequered history, with coaches coming and going,” said Hunt as per IOL. 

“I saw it as a long-term project and we had a long discussion about things. The first thing and most important is to get the team to be competitive and more stable. People will say you are going to Chippa, but I don’t see it like that. I don’t have an ego. I am really looking forward to the project.

“It is going to take a lot of work. It is going to take a lot of discussions at all sorts of levels. I am not going to promise you we’re going to win. But we can certainly be more competitive and we will have a team that people of this area can be proud of.”