It has been eight months of waiting but Kaizer Chiefs finally hiring a head coach bodes well for the local Premiership.
Amakhosi finally confirmed Nasreddine Nabi as their permanent head coach last weekend, ending weeks of speculation and more importantly, bringing hope to their multitudes of long-suffering supporters.
Tunisian Nabi teamed up with Chiefs in Türkiye at the weekend, where they are holding a preseason camp.
Of course, the arrival of a coach shouldn’t mean all will be well in the Chiefs ranks straightaway. The club sunk to new depths in the last season, finishing a distant 10th in the DStv Premiership, and didn’t go far in any cup competition either.
It has been a free fall for the once mighty Amakhosi, who began last season with Molefi Ntseki at the helm, only for him to be sacked just two months in and replaced with Cavin Johnson. Johnson’s spell was even more disastrous, and we are not surprised that Chiefs’ management decided to dispense with him altogether, rather than redeploy him to the development structures from where he had been initially promoted.
Nabi has brought along a strong technical team, but we must warn Chiefs fans not to expect immediate miracles. Patience will be important in rebuilding the club into winners.
The new coach will need to acclimatise to SA conditions, and players will have to adapt to new coaching methods.
Chiefs’ poor showing in recent years has obviously had a negative effect on the SA football psyche, because they are easily the best-supported sporting institution in the country. Even match attendance at their home matches took a plunge due to poor form, and we hear TV ratings plummeted too.
Any sign of success will be met with positivity from the fans, who naturally want to associate with winners.
Nabi will have to prove himself, however, even though he has an impressive CV which shows championship success with Yanga, of Tanzania, and a runners-up medal in Morocco with FAR Rabat a few weeks ago.
The club fans must not exert unnecessary pressure on the new regime. After all Chiefs’ decline didn’t happen overnight. It has been nine years since they won any trophy, and a succession of coaches have come and failed, without being given sufficient time. We hope that Nabi will be afforded the chance to deploy his methods in his bid to rebuild the team.
SOWETAN SAYS | Give Nabi time to rebuild club
Image: Djaffar Ladjal/BackpagePix
It has been eight months of waiting but Kaizer Chiefs finally hiring a head coach bodes well for the local Premiership.
Amakhosi finally confirmed Nasreddine Nabi as their permanent head coach last weekend, ending weeks of speculation and more importantly, bringing hope to their multitudes of long-suffering supporters.
Tunisian Nabi teamed up with Chiefs in Türkiye at the weekend, where they are holding a preseason camp.
Of course, the arrival of a coach shouldn’t mean all will be well in the Chiefs ranks straightaway. The club sunk to new depths in the last season, finishing a distant 10th in the DStv Premiership, and didn’t go far in any cup competition either.
It has been a free fall for the once mighty Amakhosi, who began last season with Molefi Ntseki at the helm, only for him to be sacked just two months in and replaced with Cavin Johnson. Johnson’s spell was even more disastrous, and we are not surprised that Chiefs’ management decided to dispense with him altogether, rather than redeploy him to the development structures from where he had been initially promoted.
Nabi has brought along a strong technical team, but we must warn Chiefs fans not to expect immediate miracles. Patience will be important in rebuilding the club into winners.
The new coach will need to acclimatise to SA conditions, and players will have to adapt to new coaching methods.
Chiefs’ poor showing in recent years has obviously had a negative effect on the SA football psyche, because they are easily the best-supported sporting institution in the country. Even match attendance at their home matches took a plunge due to poor form, and we hear TV ratings plummeted too.
Any sign of success will be met with positivity from the fans, who naturally want to associate with winners.
Nabi will have to prove himself, however, even though he has an impressive CV which shows championship success with Yanga, of Tanzania, and a runners-up medal in Morocco with FAR Rabat a few weeks ago.
The club fans must not exert unnecessary pressure on the new regime. After all Chiefs’ decline didn’t happen overnight. It has been nine years since they won any trophy, and a succession of coaches have come and failed, without being given sufficient time. We hope that Nabi will be afforded the chance to deploy his methods in his bid to rebuild the team.
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