With Kaizer Chiefs running the risk of posting their worst-ever finish in the DStv Premiership standings, KickOff looks at whether it matters where they end up if they don't qualify for the Top Eight.
The Glamour Boys' struggles have led to comparisons of their worst seasons in the PSL era, where they missed out on the Top Eight on three occasions.
However, the Soweto giants, on all three occasions, finished in ninth place - in the 2001/02, 2006/07 and 2018/19 seasons - and have not finished below ninth in the PSL era.
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The current generation is in danger of posting the worst-ever finish in the league in the club's PSL history (since 1996), having dropped to 10th recently but now back up to eighth.
If Chiefs finish outside the Top Eight, what should carry significance, in terms of their campaign, should be missing out on a chance to fight for the first trophy next season.
Because judging from the 2001/02, 2006/07 and 2018/19 campaigns, it should not carry so much significance where they finish if they miss out on the Top Eight.
Interestingly, the first time Amakhosi missed out on the Top Eight in 2001/02, that season was one of their fruitful and most memorable - the 'Operation Vat Alles' where they won the BP Top 8, Coca-Cola Cup and African Cup Winners' Cup under Muhsin Ertugral, with their poor league form going under the radar.
Similarly, in the 2006/07 season, when again they finished ninth, there was no big concern among the supporters after Ernst Middendorp won the 2006 Absa Cup and SAA Supa 8 in the same season.
Chiefs' poor run in the league saw the German removed as head coach, being replaced by Kosta Papic for the last few games of that campaign.
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It was only in 2018/19 that the Glamour Boys finished ninth and did not win any trophy, but the campaign was a building block to the side competing for the league title the following season under Middendorp.
He had joined midway through the 2018/19 campaign and lost the 2019/20 title on the final match-day to Mamelodi Sundowns.
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