OPINION: Chiefs paying the price for indecisiveness

Retaining Khalil Ben Youssef and Cedric Kaze after parting ways with Nasreddine Nabi last year felt like little more than kicking the can down the road. It felt less like stability and more like postponing the inevitable.

Chiefs’ underlying problems

The same underlying problems were always going to resurface, and what is unfolding at Kaizer Chiefs is a direct consequence of that indecisiveness. Recent performances have stripped away any illusion of progress, exposing a side still grappling with the same familiar shortcomings.

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I know I risk sounding like a stuck record, but let me state the obvious once more, Amakhosi are not in the Betway Premiership title race. Youssef’s assertion that they were felt like a tactic to buy time, perhaps born out of the realisation that there was little else to play for after their exits from the Nedbank Cup and the CAF Confederation Cup.

That leap towards challenging for league honours was always going to be a bridge too far. Their Confederation Cup exit slipped somewhat under the radar, overshadowed by the titanic clash between Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns last week.

However, the 2-1 defeat to Stellenbosch FC once again exposed the shortcomings of the two interim coaches. They were found wanting after allowing a 1-0 lead to slip against Stellies, eventually surrendering all three points. Game management, tactical adjustments and leadership in key moments were all called into question. For two coaches entrusted with restoring stability, it was a worrying indictment.

Youssef and Kaze may well win the upcoming Soweto Derby against the Buccaneers on Saturday, but that is not the point. The issue runs far deeper, they are simply not the calibre required to lead a club of Chiefs’ stature. I said as much even after they assisted Nabi in guiding Chiefs to Nedbank Cup glory last season.

A slippery slope

Now the co-coaching experiment appears to be unravelling in the worst possible fashion. They were eliminated from two cup competitions in the space of 10 days. The slippery slope threatens to continue in the league, largely due to the tactical shortcomings of the men currently at the helm.

The Soweto giants dismissed Nabi five months ago. By now, surely, a suitable successor should have been identified. This should have been the moment to act decisively, to introduce a new voice in the changing room for the remainder of the campaign and, in doing so, begin laying foundations for the next one.

When losing is habitual, it becomes increasingly difficult to arrest the decline. The longer this uncertainty persists, the longer it will take to restore Chiefs to their former stature. The result of the forthcoming derby feels almost immaterial, the broader evidence suggests that change is long overdue.

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Chiefs require a proven winner to walk through the doors at Naturena and raise standards across the board. Someone not afraid of making difficult decisions, including parting ways with players deemed below the par as part of a genuine rebuild. Anything less would simply extend the cycle of experimentation and risk condemning Amakhosi to another foreseeable future of unfulfilled promise.