Nabi says a local coach on chiefs' technical panel would have made no difference to result

Under-pressure Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi has implied that having a local in his technical panel wouldn’t have made any difference to their defeat by Golden Arrows, despite many believing he should have roped in someone who knows the PSL to help him.

Chiefs suffered their 10th league defeat of the season when they lost 2-1 to Arrows at Moses Mabhida Stadium at the weekend. Skipper Yusuf Maart missed a penalty in the 12th minute, before he redeemed himself by cancelling out Nduduzo Sibiya’s 25th-minute opener four minutes later. Knox Mutizwa netted the winner for Arrows in the 78th minute.

Nabi arrived last July with his technical team, made up of a pair of assistant coaches in Khalil Ben Youssef and Fernando da Cruz, alongside goalkeeper coach Ilyes Mzoughi and strength and conditioning coach Safi Madji. Da Cruz would leave two months into the project, with Cedric Kaze replacing him a month later.

Nabi dismissed the notion that having at least one South African with PSL experience in his technical panel would have helped Amakhosi. “The skills don’t have nationality. Before I came to SA, I analysed all the PSL [issues]. The problem is not that [Chiefs don’t have someone who’s coached in the PSL before in the technical panel],” Nabi said.

The “sorry” Tunisian coach also emphasised that he needed patience at the helm of Amakhosi, and urged the fans to attack him instead of his players as he vowed they’d “work seriously”.

“I want patience, give me patience. I am very sorry, honestly ... I am very sorry for the result [against Arrows]. I am the first man with big frustration,” Nabi said. “We understand altogether the frustration for the team at this moment, but please don’t panic. We’ll continue to work seriously [and] give 200% for the club.

“But don’t panic, please, and don’t attack the players. I offer that you can attack me now, it’s normal, but don’t attack the players. Protect the team and the players because the season is not finished, and I am sure we will change the situation.”

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