Kaizer Chiefs' management to decide future of co-interim coaches Kaze and Ben Youssef

The Kaizer Chiefs head honchos — and not their former superior, Nasreddine Nabi — will decide the fate of co-interim coaches Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef.

Kaze and Ben Youssef have been holding the fort at Chiefs in recent weeks, following the suspension of head coach Nabi over issues such as mistrust and coaching credentials.

Since Nabi’s departure, Kaze and Ben Youssef have endured a rollercoaster ride. They managed to progress to the second preliminary round of the CAF Confederation Cup, but were eliminated from the Carling Knockout last 16 by Stellenbosch on Sunday afternoon.

Their Betway Premiership campaign has also been topsy-turvy. They are winless in their last three games, having lost to Sekhukhune United and drawn against Marumo Gallants and AmaZulu, respectively.

Given all the challenges the duo has faced, it seems improbable that they’ll be retained as co-coaches for the remainder of the season — especially considering the team’s poor run of form. Kaze, however, stated that their fate is not in their hands, which is why they are uncertain whether their contracts will be terminated alongside Nabi’s in the foreseeable future.

“I believe that’s a question that should be directed to the management,” Kaze said.

“At the moment, we are the coaches of Kaizer Chiefs until further notice, or until something else is decided by the management. So, I’m pretty sure they’ll let everyone know.”

While Kaze and Ben Youssef have faced more criticism than praise in recent weeks, they appear to have revived one of Chiefs’ midfielders, Sibongiseni Mthethwa. The 31-year-old was voted Player of the Match by fans after an impressive performance against Stellenbosch in the engine room.

Mthethwa’s resurgence has been remarkable, considering he was close to being released by the club after being placed on the transfer list last season. Mthethwa has shown that he’s a box-to-box midfielder — composed and rarely succumbing to pressure on the field.

“I believe every player is like someone in a relationship — they need to feel loved. He needs someone to take care of him,” Kaze explained.

“He needs support so that, when he has bad days, he can be lifted. When the confidence is there, a player can express himself. I believe that’s the way we’ve been working with him, and now he’s reaping the benefits.”

In the coming days, domestic football will pause due to the Fifa international break, offering players time to regroup and reset.

“I believe it’s a welcome break,” Kaze said.

“In the past 18 days, we’ve played six games, including travel to Angola and back. Each match brought its own pressure, and we never had time to work on everything we wanted to.

“Now, we’ll have time to settle and focus on improvements. We’ll work on communication and assess what needs to change. We’re also preparing for our Confederation Cup game.”

Kaze has already identified the key areas they need to focus on when they return to action — starting with a continental clash away to AS Simba.

“I think this break comes at a very good time,” Kaze said. “We’ve seen what we need to work on. Anyone who has watched our recent games will know that we had good chances to score.

“We had possession and defended well — but we didn’t score or kill the game when opportunities came. Those are the things we need to fix.

"The players also need to reset, because the recent schedule has been demanding. It was starting to take a toll,” Kaze concluded.