OPINION: Why Nabi to Chiefs feels so right, but…

I seldom put my head on the block for a football coach especially for a club I don’t support. But, truth be told, Kaizer Chiefs is arguably the biggest club in the land.

A Chiefs firing on all cylinders guarantees happy souls in thousands of homes. A competitive Chiefs and Orlando Pirates would certainly be welcome after years in the wilderness for both Soweto giants. 

I mean, who’s going to stop Mamelodi Sundowns? It would be travesty to watch the Brazilians lift a seventh successive league title.

And I’m glad that since Bucs brought in Spaniard Jose Riveiro there has been a semblance of progress. Of course, there is still a great deal of work to be done to end Sundowns’ dominance. But they’ve definitely taken a decent stride.

On the other hand, the just-ended season was another underwhelming one for Amakhosi under Arthur Zwane. 

Come to think of it, a child born the last time Stuart Baxter guided them to a league title in 2014/15 is now doing Grade Two. As I followed them this past season, I couldn’t help but think: at this rate, the 2015 babies will be in university before Chiefs challenge for a league title. How sad that would be!

Surely, the best the Glamour Boys can do now is to bring in a competitive coach who will lead a progressive rebuild. They need to support the coach and ensure they sign quality players.

I know there’s countless coaches that have submitted their CVs. However, Mohammed Nabi to Chiefs feels so right for both parties, and here’s why.

MOHAMMED NASREDDINE NABI HAS BEEN IN FAMILIAR TERRITORY AT YOUNG AFRICANS

When the Belgian of Tunisian descent arrived at the Dar es Salaam giants on 21 April 2021, Yanga had gone four years without winning the league title. 

It must be noted that during those four years, Yanga went through financial troubles and had to watch from the sidelines as its rivals had free rein in the Tanzanian topflight.

Remember, the Kariakoo rivalry in Tanzania is still as fierce as you can expect it to be. They never drink tea together. It’s actually shocking for them when they see Pirates and Chiefs fans seated together during a derby.

So, you can imagine, the sharpest dagger in any Yanga fan’s heart was witnessing their Kariakoo rivals Simba SC win four league titles on the trot when they could barely keep the lights on at Jangwani Street.

At the centre of Timu ya Wananchi’s [team of the citizens] crisis which began half a decade ago, was a financial storm precipitated by the exit of a businessman who used to bankroll the team. 

Following his arrest in 2015, Indian business tycoon Yusuf Manji could no longer fund the team. When he was released in 2018, he left for the United States. 

In a heartbeat, Yanga became a shining example of how a one-man show is not healthy for a top side with ambitions of continuously challenging for top honours in modern football. 

“The club couldn’t pay salaries, accommodation, and transport. Players were terminating their contracts. They travelled by bus to games [far away],” Eng. Hersi Ally Said told FARPost. 

Things started changing for the better in 2020, with the youthful Eng. Hersi leading a steering committee that was tasked to turn the club’s fortunes around. A year later, Nabi took over the reins with pressure mounting to end Simba’s dominance.

He came in midway through the season and had a few months to put his ducks in order. Thereafter, the man was unstoppable, going a record 49 games unbeaten as he guided them to their 28th NBC Premier League title. The following season – 2022/23 – he led them to an unassailable 29th title.

In his two full seasons in Tanzania, he swept every trophy on offer in the East African country. Six trophies for Yanga, and nothing for Simba certainly was and is music to the ears of any Mwananchi [Yanga fan].

In fact, the joy in the eyes of Yanga players, coaches and management was so tangible as they stopped by the Simba headquarters in Dar to show off their three trophies for the 2022/23 season. I had the privilege of being part of two trophy parades and got to understand how deep that rivalry goes. 

LESSONS KAIZER CHIEFS CAN LEARN FROM HOW NABI TURNED AROUND YANGA 

Here’s my honest assessment of Amakhosi’s dressing room. At least 60 percent of Chiefs’ senior team players aren’t good enough to play for a team of its magnitude. There comes the BUT I have in the headline. 

Chiefs’ management needs to be honest with themselves. None of the players that played for Chiefs in the just-ended season can walk into the Sundowns starting line-up. It’s no surprise that none of them were in Bafana Bafana yesterday [Saturday] for an AFCON dead rubber match against Morocco. 

When Nabi took over at Yanga, he started culling players that didn’t fit into his plans. I know of about eight players that were released. At the start of the 2021/22 season, they signed about nine players who formed the formidable squad the club has now. It’s the season Fiston Mayele joined the club.

Ruthlessly, that culling needs to take place at Naturena – costly as it is. That’s if they entertain any hopes of, once again, becoming a force to reckon with. Bear in mind, there won’t be any miracles. There is need to invest to reap success. Doing things the same way over and over will never yield different results.

TOTALLY OBSESSED WITH WINNING 

Someone close to Professor, as he is affectionately known, said to me the other day: “if he loses, he shuts himself in the house. He hates losing.” 

One of the young players he signed from Biashara United during his 30 month stay in Dar, Yusuph Athuman, tells FARPost: “He’s obsessed with winning. Nabi hates losing.”

Chiefs must learn from the many mistakes they have made in the post-2015 era with their next appointment. Sentimentalism has never won trophies. Ask Manchester United when they brought in club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Ask Chelsea when they had Frank Lampard in charge. The men knew the right things to say to tickle fans’ ears, but implementation ZERO.

That a person previously represented the club exceptionally in whatever capacity should never be the basis of handing out a coaching job. They should opt for a coach whose upward trajectory has still to peak. 

In this regard, Mohamed Nasreddine Nabi fits the bill better than a lot of candidates. At 57, the former Yanga coach is certainly not young, but his ideas are fresh and there’s a sense he could bring in something different at Chiefs. The style of play he has imposed at Yanga, as well as some of his tactical methods highlight this.

It’s not so much the success he has enjoyed at Yanga [he took the club to the finals of the 2023 CAF Confederation Cup] that his Chiefs candidacy is strong. It’s in the way his team plays. They are dynamic, entertaining and tactically well-structured. Yanga under Nabi are the antithesis of everything Chiefs have been in recent times.

However, his success will largely be dependent on whether he gets his ‘tools of trade’. He may not be the coach they think they’re hiring if they insist they want to keep their staff that previously failed. The 57-year-old has a way of working, which his technical team understand and embrace. 

Professor, as they affectionately call him, spends a lot of time thinking about the game. Therefore, fitness, conditioning, goalkeeping and analysis is left to his backroom staff.

Yes, it’s a big ask from Chiefs, but if they want the best of this guy they’ve got to provide him with the tools of trade and trust his professional opinion.

Pitso Mosimane is a good example of this. Wherever he has gone, he has taken his trusted lieutenants and it has borne fruit. 

PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR NABI TO CARRY CHIEFS’ TRANSITIONAL PHASE

I understand why Mohamed Nasreddine Nabi would be keen on the Chiefs job. The man has caught the interest of teams in North Africa and the Middle East. But here’s why I think Chiefs is more appealing to him.

The DStv Premiership obviously commands a lot of respect across the continent for a number of reasons. It’s been positioned as one of the best leagues on the continent, it’s well-marketed and has an extensive reach.

While his success with Yanga put him on the map, doing well with Chiefs would, no doubt, take his career to the next level.

The UEFA Pro holder has won league titles in East Africa twice, he has won it in Central Africa with AC Leopards of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 2016/17 season. 

So, since the last time Chiefs won the title, the back-to-back Coach of the Season winner has won eight trophies including three league titles in two different countries.

The Glamour Boys offer a fresh challenge to him. Unlike the North African clubs approaching him, the South African giants look like a club that would patiently give him time to rebuild the squad if they see he is moving in the right direction. 

Therefore, he strikes me as the perfect man to carry Amakhosi through their transitional phase. They have been in transition ever since Baxter won them the last league title in 2015. The likes of Steve Komphela, Giovanni Solinas, Ernst Middendorp, Gavin Hunt, the second coming of Baxter and Arthur Zwane failed to carry them through. 

Le Professeur, in French, with quality additions to the squad, could resurrect this sleeping giant.

I asked a prominent Khosi when last they enjoyed watching their team play football. We both agreed it was during the Ted Dimitri era. During his time, they came to be known for their beautiful brand of football. This was ingrained into the club’s DNA, so to speak. 

Football is entertainment. It must be enjoyed. I give it to Rulani Mokwena at Sundowns. They play an attractive brand of football. 

However, most coaches that have sat in the Chiefs dugout adapted a conservative style of play.

Without a doubt, the Amakhosi faithful has long been craving for total football and Nabi could be the man to satisfy them. The modest coach modernises with the game and can easily adapt to any situation. Commonly known to play the 4-3-3, I was surprised to see him tweak it in the Azam Cup final on Monday. He played the 3-4-3 and suffocated an expensively assembled Azam FC. Bear in mind, Yanga had played four games in eight days.

In the first half, they played high tempo, high pressing and dominated possession. They got their goal at the half-hour mark and in the second half, Mohamed Nasreddine Nabi showed his exceptional game management. He managed the game the North African style, keeping the cash-rich Azam at bay to lift his sixth trophy in two-and-a-half years.

His ability to tweak things when needed shows his knowledge about the game and tactical flexibility. 

One thing to note about Mohamed Nasreddine Nabi is that he is a disciplinarian. He is firm. During his Yanga stint, he either benched or got rid of big-headed players over disciplinary issues. 

It would be interesting to see if the two parties eventually agree to strike compromises and make it work.

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