Chiefs must give Nabi freedom to sign players — Dladla

Former Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Josta Dladla hopes the club will give new coach Nasreddine Nabi the freedom to sign the players he wants.

Nabi, who departed Brussels in Belgium for Istanbul yesterday, was expected to join Chiefs in Turkey for their preseason camp last night.

The Glamour Boys started their preseason camp last Thursday and were under the watchful eye of Nabi's assistant coach Fernando Da Cruz.

Nabi has been tasked with the huge job of reawakening the sleeping giant that has not tasted silverware in nine seasons.

“Let's be honest, we know Chiefs have not been doing well for a long time. That's when you realise it is a big team. Even though they are not doing well, people still want to talk about them,” Dladla told the media during the launch of the DStv eKasi Champs of Champs.

“You have coach Nabi coming through; Chiefs are at the bottom and nobody expects anything from them. Nabi is here to rebuild the team. As a coach coming into a team that is now struggling ... It's not going to be easy because... he'll want to come with his own players. I just hope that the management will give him the freedom to do what he wants.

“If he fails, he can't blame anybody because they gave him everything that he wanted.”

While the club has already confirmed a few departures, they have not announced any of their new signings, indicating that they want Nabi to have a say on who they bring on-board.

“Every time Chiefs want to sign a player, we all know what happens [other teams sign him]. They have realised that they just want to do their things quietly,” he said. “And a lot of people may not like it and say Chiefs are quiet and they are not doing anything, but they realised that they just want to do their business quietly.

“They have been criticised for not doing well, for now they are trying to change a lot of things. Let's give them a chance and let the coach decide on the players he wants. I'm crossing my fingers that it works.”

Meanwhile, the eKasi Champs of Champs tournament will kick off on July 11 until the 21st, and will take place at Orlando East grounds for the round-robin phase, with the semifinals to be played at the Moletsane Sports Complex.