Chiefs downplay threat to club’s identity amid overhaul

MIHLALI BALEKA

Nasreddine Nabi’s choice of backroom staff at Kaizer Chiefs won’t stop the club from rediscovering its identity, instead it will enhance it, according to the club’s marketing director, Jessica Motaung.

Chiefs announced revered 58-year-old tactician Nabi as their new coach last night, ending widespread speculation. But while Nabi was unveiled in a social media post, linking up with the team for the first time on tour in Türkiye, some of his lieutenants had long arrived at the Taung Village.

Nabi’s technical team is made up of Fernando Da Cruz and Khalil Ben Youssef (both assistants), Ilyes Mzoughi (goalkeeper coach), Majdi Safi (conditioning) and Ayman Makroud (analyst). But while that shows the trust Nabi has in the quintet, a discerning supporter is concerned about the lack of a local-based staffer who knows the playing identity of the club.

After all, part and parcel of Chiefs’ struggles in the past nine seasons, amid the trophy drought, is the team’s inability to play the Chiefs way, which used to bring fans to the stadium.

However, Motaung, who was speaking yesterday on the sidelines of the launch of the inaugural pre-season Toyota Cup in which they’ll face Tanzanian giants Young Africans at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein on July 28, was quick to allay those fears.

“I think there’s a collaboration – a much bigger system at Chiefs that people are not aware of,” Motaung explained.

“There’s a much bigger approach in terms of maintaining our DNA. We are just taking it to the next level, and bringing in new people who are going to add to that.

“So, no, I don’t think we are going to lose any of that. If anything, I think we are going to enhance that and help our coaches understand our system with the junior coaches.”

The winds of change have been blowing through Chiefs since Nabi’s imminent arrival, with the club also cutting off deadwood, preparing for the new dawn.

Chiefs released Keagan Dolly, Siyethemba Sithebe, Njabulo Ngcobo and Sifiso Hlanti amid the expiry of their contracts.

However, the club has not announced any new signings for now.

“We need the coach and the rest of the technical team that has come in order to finalise those kinds of details,” Motaung said.

“Work has been done behind the scenes, but it kind of makes sense for us to allow the coach to come in and be part of the decisions. So those announcements will come soon.”

The Toyota Cup couldn’t have come at a better time for Nabi, who will face his former club, Yanga, where he enjoyed immense success. As such, the Tanzanian giants’ president, Hersi Ally Said, has advised the Amakhosi faithful on what they need to do to get the best out of Nabi.

“It will be very important for that support to come for him to do his best,” said Said, who attended the launch in Sandton.

“Yes, we signed very good players at that time, and he managed to win everything in the country that time. Unfortunately, he went to Rabat, and he missed out on the league and cup.

“But he’s a good coach, he just needs to be supported for him to do well. I want to wish him well and ask everyone around the club to support him.”

While Chiefs could do everything to support Nabi with the right resources – like they’ve already done with the technical team – the buck stops with the supporters as well.

Some Amakhosi fans have been impatient amid the barren streak, showing their frustration by pelting the coaches with objects when things weren’t going their way.

Motaung, though, has made a humble plea to the fans to give Nabi and his team a chance to adapt.

“If our past hasn’t taught us to have patience, then we need to have a meeting,” Motaung explained.

“I think we have learned that patience is important. We have, at times, made decisions in a hurry, and we learned from that.

“I can tell our supporters that we want to sustain success, and for that to happen we have to lay the right foundation and give the team time.”