Kaizer Chiefs’ new coach Nasreddine Nabi had mixed emotions after his team’s 4-0 drubbing by Young Africans in the Toyota Cup in Bloemfontein on Sunday. While the Tunisian was disappointed with the result, he said he learnt valuable lessons about his team’s readiness for the new season.
Nabi, the club bosses, technical team, players and fans must work as a collective to ensure that the team is ready for the start of the Betway Premiership on September 10.
So, that’s why MIHLALI BALEKA has put together a list of things that all the stakeholders who are associated with the club must do to ensure Chiefs strike up a winning combination.
SHOW PATIENCE
It’s well-documented that everyone who’s associated with the club, especially the supporters, is hungry for the success after a nine-year barren run. But it’s going to be highly unlikely for Nabi and his technical team to get the team running like a well-oiled machine in a short space of time given the shortcomings of the past.
So, everyone must be patient and let the rebuilding phase take place. After all this is the only way deadwood will be cut, and a new era will be ushered in.
BUY INTO THE VISION
Chiefs will only be a force to be reckoned with next season if everyone sees the same vision and buys into objectives that the team wants to achieve.
For example, if Chiefs wants to outrightly knock Mamelodi Sundowns off their perch for the league title, that would be a stretch for the club given their frailties all around. Everyone needs to understand that Chiefs need to crawl before they can walk, and that means improving all round before thinking they can challenge for silverware.
INVEST IN QUALITY
Amakhosi have already broken the bank to bring a coach of Nabi’s calibre to the club. But Nabi is only one piece of the puzzle. The club and everyone else, including Nabi, must still invest in signing and manufacturing quality players and staff for the team.
Nabi has started to do his bit as he showed he has nerves of steel, playing four youngsters, which included debutant Nkosana Mbuthu, against Young Africans.
MAP THE WAY FORWARD
It’s been close to a month since Chiefs unveiled Nabi as the man in charge of the team, the Tunisian having been unveiled during his link-up with the team in Türkiye for a pre-season tour. But with the dust now settled after the Toyota Cup, Nabi, his technical team and bosses must put their heads on the block and map the way forward.
The future of goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune has been up in the air for some time, for instance, and a decision must be made, possibly before the team leaves for camp in Botswana.
EMBRACE CHANGES
The new era will come with a lot of changes and sometimes they’ll be hard, but for the betterment of the club and the team, everyone must embrace them. All stakeholders will have to accept the fact that they won’t always get their way, hence they’ll need to work with whatever they have.