Kaizer Chiefs have reached a third of the way through the DStv Premiership season and to say it has been a difficult campaign to date would be an understatement.
They are already onto their second coach and have taken only 11 points from those 10 games, their second worst tally at this stage of the campaign in the last decade.
We compare this year’s start to how they fared in the last 10 years after their opening 10 matches.
2013/14
Points: 18
Final position: 2nd
Chiefs had a few early seasons set-backs that included a 3-1 loss to SuperSport United and draws with Moroka Swallows and Bloemfontein Celtic, but they bounced back to at one stage hold a 10-point lead in the title race, only to finish second behind Sundowns.
2014/15
Points: 28
Final position: 1st
The perfect start as Chiefs won nine of their first 10 games (D1) and would go on to romp to the title. They already held an 11-point lead at the top of the table after 10 games. It was as emphatic a title victory as they have had in their history. Coach Stuart Baxter left at the end of this campaign when his contract was not renewed.
2015/16
Points: 17
Final position: 5th
Steve Komphela took over the reins and went unbeaten in his first eight games, though with three wins and five draws, before a 3-1 loss to Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates meant he suffered a heart-breaking first defeat in his ninth encounter. Chiefs would end the season fifth having drawn 13 of their 30 games.
2016/17
Points: 15
Final position: 4th
Chiefs sat on top of the table after seven games of the campaign, though that did include a loss to eventual champions BidVest Wits in their opener. They could not sustain it and were ultimately undone by too many draws in the season with 11, finishing 10 points behind Wits.
2017/18
Points: 16
Final position: 3rd
Komphela did not quite see out the season, quitting just before the end and despite the fact Chiefs would finish in their best league placing during his tenure. They made an iffy start to the campaign with only three wins in their first nine games (D4 L2) before winning their 10th, and never looked convincing with draws (12) again the big issue.
2018/19
Points: 14
Final position: 9th
Chiefs did not win any of their opening five games with four draws in there, claiming a first victory on match day six as they beat Cape Town City 4-1. They had the hapless Giovani Solinas in charge, who was clearly out of his depth, and finished the season outside the top eight with Ernst Middendorp at the helm.
2019/20
Points: 25
Final position: 2nd
Chiefs were the quickest out the blocks as they took an impressive 25 points from the first 30 available (W8 D1 L1). The AmaKhosi led the table until the final 30 minutes of the season when a 1-1 draw with Baroka FC allowed Sundowns to overtake them after the campaign had to be completed in the Gauteng bio-bubble. They will still be wondering how they let this title slip away.
2020/21
Points: 10
Final position: 8th
Gavin Hunt took over at Chiefs but as the club laboured over a transfer ban, results were poor and they won two out of their first 10 league games (D4 L4), 1-0 away successes at Chippa United and AmaZulu. Hunt was axed before the campaign was out, though Chiefs scraped into the top eight by winning their final games of the season.
2021/22
Points: 15
Final position: 5th
Baxter returned for a second spell, but this one was nowhere near as successful as the team struggled from the start and won just four of their first 10 games (D3 L3). Things did pick up a little after that but Baxter was axed towards the end of the campaign in which the team lost four league games in a row for the first time.
2022/23
Points: 17
Final position: 5th
Arthur Zwane was handed the reins but struggled throughout the campaign as Chiefs recorded the most losses (12) ever in a PSL season. Their first 10 matches yielded five wins, two draws and three defeats, and they were actually six points better off at this stage last season.