Khune calls for patience: Trophy drought won't last as stalwart paints a picture for Chiefs fans

After three years in the Kaizer Chiefs senior team, learning the trade and waiting for his chance at a start between the posts for the Soweto giants, Itumeleng Khune finally got his shot in August 2007 against Jomo Cosmos.

It was a month after celebrating his 20th birthday when then-coach Muhsin Ertugral gave Khune a taste of top-flight football.

From then onwards, "Spiderkid", as club fans affectionately nicknamed him after legendary Chiefs goalkeeper Brian "Spiderman" Baloyi, became a stalwart for Amakhosi.

Khune's name is etched into the history of the Glamour Boys, mainly as he played a crucial part in helping the club earn over a dozen major trophies in the modern era.

That trophy-laden spell soon ended in 2015, the last year Amakhosi celebrated under a shower of confetti with the glow of fireworks beaming off the Premiership trophy.

Last weekend, after Chiefs suffered a 3-2 defeat against Golden Arrows in the Dstv Premiership, club fans took matters into their own hands.

After the final whistle, they made their feelings known by calling for the sack of head coach Athur Zwane, to the point that security had to personally guide staff and players off the Peter Mokaba Stadium pitch for safety concerns.

"All I can say to our supporters is, yes, we have been asking for patience, but again they need to understand there have been different coaches in the past seasons," Khune told reporters ahead of the Soweto derby league clash on Saturday.

"The club has delivered certain coaches the supporters recommended and some of the players they wanted to come in. So, everyone who has come in needs time to settle."

Chiefs were knocked out early in this season's MTN competition and had to swallow a bitter pill in witnessing arch-rivals Orlando