CALLS for Kaizer Chiefs managemen to make the call to replace co-coaches Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef as they continue to look out of ideas with each passing game.
Image: Itumeleng Khune/Independent Newspapers
The phrase 'Phakama, ixesha lifikile' (Stand up, the time has arrived) is usually echoed when someone is being urged to step up and rise to the occasion. But such is its significance, the Kaizer Chiefs management, particularly the sporting director, Kaizer Motaung Junior, must step up and take accountability for their crisis – for the time has arrived.
Chiefs have been on an incredible slide, losing their last four games in a row – a feat that resulted in them missing out on the CAF Confederation Cup and all but falling behind in the Betway Premiership title race.
That decline has come under the stewardship of co-coaches Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef. The fact that the duo had momentarily looked the part in leading the team as they potentially stood a chance of winning a treble – the Betway Premiership, the Nedbank Cup, and the CAF Confederation Cup - notwithstanding.
The wheels have since come off, and questions that were raised when they were appointed, following the sacking of their former master and head coach, Nasreddine Nabi, have resurfaced: "On what grounds were they trusted to lead the team until the end of the season when Chiefs could have hired a renowned coach with notable track records?"
Well, the answer to that lies with Motaung Junior. His appointment of the duo is proving to be not only costly, but immature as well. Motaung Junior would have done better to perform his due diligence post Nabi’s departure.
One must ask how he came to the conclusion that while Nabi was not good enough to coach the club anymore, his former right-hand men were. You'd expect that while the onus rested with the coach, the technical staff still had their say in all operations.
With the team also winning the Nedbank Cup last season, that was expected to whet their appetite to strive for more trophies. But here they are, running the risk of another barren season, unless something drastic and magical happens to the pacesetters – rivals Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns – in the title race, which is unlikely.
Revered coaches such as Pitso Mosimane went public, declaring themselves available to coach the club if contact is made. But guess what? That fell on Motaung Junior’s deaf ears as he opted to stick with the duo, who achieved notable success as Nabi’s understudies.
Kaze and Ben Youssef know that they may have bitten off more than they could chew. They are either apologising more week in and week out to the fans, or they are impatient with the media hounds as they answer with anger.
Granted, football is an emotional sport, but that needs to be managed, especially when pressure is mounting. It can’t be that a coach would need to be reprimanded by journalists on how to address the media and control himself after a defeat.
What’s also horrific about Chiefs’ losses is that they have come against arch-rivals, including Orlando Pirates, where not only results are at stake, but pride as well. Chiefs legends and staunch supporters, who’ve sworn their pledge to the club, cried foul after losing 3-0 to Pirates in the Soweto derby last Sunday.
Former goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune, who knows no other club in domestic football other than Chiefs’, called the Soweto derby embarrassment a ‘total disrespect’ to the chairman Kaizer Motaung, the legends, and particularly the fans, who spend their hard-earned money to support the team only to be rewarded with heavy defeats at the hands of their enemies.
The disgruntled supporters of the team have called for coaching changes. Their call is warranted: with 12 league games to play this season, Chiefs could further slide on the log standings, potentially finishing outside the top eight for a third season in a row.
A feat that would be catastrophic for the club as it would mark a poor run of seasons at the hands of three different coaching systems.
But guess what? The Chiefs’ current crisis is caused by none other than the management, which is why they must face the music and find solutions with a sense of urgency – for the time has arrived.