Bafana Bafana and Kaizer Chiefs legend Doctor Khumalo has responded to whether he would return to coaching, amid recent growing calls for his name as one of the legends to take over Amakhosi until the end of the season.
Last Saturday, a handful of Amakhosi supporters staged a peaceful protest outside the Kaizer Chiefs Village in Naturena to deliver a memorandum to the club management following a string of poor results.
Chiefs got knocked out in the Nedbank Cup, CAF Confederations Cup and lost three league games in a row, including a heavy 3-0 walloping from Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates.
That ordeal resulted in the fans calling for the dismissal of co-coaches Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef with immediate effect, and the appointment of a local coach or club legend taking over until the end of the season, with 16V’s name being mentioned along with coach Pitso Mosimane and Benni McCarthy.
‘Thanks but no thanks’
“No, no, no,” Khumalo responded to Sunday World recently when asked whether he would be keen to go back to coaching.
“If I were to go back to coaching, then I would be messing with my brand. At the moment, it’s something like being out there if a chance arises or, given an opportunity, just serving as an advisor.”
Khumalo previously served as a Kaizer Chiefs interim co-coach with fellow club legend Donald ‘Ace’ Khuse during the 2002–2003 season.
They took over after the departure of Muhsin Ertugral and managed to lead the Amakhosi to a 12-game unbeaten record, earning a joint Coach of the Month award before returning to assistant roles under the now late Ted Dumitru in June 2003.
Khumalo also served as assistant coach under Stuart Baxter and Steve Komphela between 2012–2017, managed youth teams, and had a brief stint as technical director at Baroka FC.
Co-coaching dynamics
“Co-coaching is more of understanding, believing, and trusting one another, because at the end of the day, we have to make a collective decision on how we take the team to the next level,” Khumalo said when asked for his opinion on co-coaching.
“It’s not about an individual. It is about the two coaches who are given a task to lead the team together. During my time with Ace, it was easy because we played together at Kaizer Chiefs and the national team. And Ace and I have been friends for a long time, so that worked to our advantage.
“But above all, I think what made everything easy is that we understood the culture and the brand of Kaizer Chiefs,” Khumalo added.
With the fans confirming that the club promised to decide on the future of Kaze and Ben Youssef before their next assignment against Durban City, it is yet to be seen if the duo will lead the team as they host the in-form Durban-based outfit at the FNB Stadium on Sunday.
