Kaizer Chiefs team manager Bobby Motaung has given a candid explanation on why the club decided not to hire any other coach after the surprise departure of Nasreddine Nabi and instead entrusted his assistants Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef with the big job.
Kaze and Youssef have proven their doubters wrong since taking over the hot seat. They have put Amakhosi back in the conversation as league title contenders, and are currently on the verge of qualifying for the CAF Confederations Cup Last 16.
Co-coaches doing a great job
Despite recently getting knocked out of the Nedbank Cup as holders, the duo has done exceptionally well as co-coaches. Something that has impressed the Amakhosi hierarchy.
“We are not yet where we want to be in terms of scoring those goals that we need and achieving what we want to achieve,” Motaung said during a media briefing to announce the renewal of their Carling Black Label sponsorship at SAB headquarters in Bryanston on Tuesday.
“But if you look at the consistency of us keeping the technical staff and obviously managing the squad as it is, it helped us a lot. Even for the future, look at the generation that we’ve got now… It’s a young generation, and they really need to be given time, and [we need to] be patient with them.
Not ideal to move technical staff around
“But keeping the same technical staff was more important for us. Because bringing in a new coach and new technical team … then you must make changes. And you can’t be making changes every season. And in the middle of the season, you’re making changes again.
“That doesn’t give you consistency. And I think the decision we took to sustain and keep the current technical staff helped us a lot.”
Kaze and Youssef have guided Chiefs to the top of their group with 10 points. And they will only need a draw when they face second-placed Zamalek in their last Group D fixture away on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t score the third goal [in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Al Masry] to qualify as early as Sunday. But I think the door is still open for us to qualify. It’s a good challenge for us. We are positive about going there, and we will fight,” Motaung added.
