Former coach backs Dube to excel at Kaizer Chiefs

Kaizer Chiefs’ new signing Austin Dube has been backed to succeed at the club following his move from GladAfrica Championship side Richards Bay.

Chiefs confirmed on Tuesday that they had acquired the services of the highly rated defender on a three-year deal. The 28-year-old was impressive for Richards Bay last season, featuring in all 30 league games and only missing one in the play-offs.

Dube was with Bafana Bafana at the Cosafa Cup this year, where he helped them to win the competition. He will be joining Njabulo Ngcobo, Kgaogelo Sekgota, Sifiso Hlanti, Phathutshedzo Nange, Brandon Peterson and Sibusiso Mabiliso as Amakhosi’s new players, while Given Thibedi has returned from a loan spell at Swallows.

Former coach at Richards Bay Simo Dladla, now with Swallows, is confident the left-back will make it at the Glamour Boys.

“He will make it. He is a left-footed player and he can read the game,” Dladla said. “He will give them a lot of balance. He is not clumsy. He is not a guy who will get reckless, and get unnecessary yellow or red cards.

“He also has an eye for goal. Chiefs have signed a good player here. He deserves this move and if it weren’t Chiefs, someone else would have signed him now.”

Chiefs have signed a good player here. He deserves this move and if it weren’t Chiefs, someone else would have signed him now.

—  Swallows assistant coach Simo Dladla

Dube was a member of the TS Galaxy team that beat Chiefs in the Nedbank Cup final in 2019. He was also part of the Richards Bay team that stunned Chiefs in the last 32 of the same competition this last season.

Dladla, who is now assistant coach to Brandon Truter at Swallows, added that he recommended Dube to the club management before he joined Chiefs. 

“There are a lot of good things about this boy. He is a thinker and he is calm,” he said. “He is very reliable and coachable. I’m happy for him that he has joined Chiefs.”

Meanwhile, just as in his first stint at Kaizer Chiefs, coach Stuart Baxter will face another baptism of fire when they play Mamelodi Sundowns in the opening round of the MTN8 in August.

The new season is set to get under way on August 14 with the MTN8, but the start is likely to be affected by the ongoing court saga between Royal AM and the Premier Soccer League.

In 2012, in his first game as the head coach of Amakhosi, Baxter was hammered 4-1 by Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. Despite the defeat nine years ago, Chiefs were able to regroup and went on to win a double under Baxter.

The English coach guided the club to four major titles, with the 2015 Premiership crown the last piece of silverware the Glamour Boys won in his final season.

As he prepares to end the trophy drought at Naturena, ex-defender Tefu Mashamaite, who enjoyed a successful stay under Baxter, believes it is a good omen that they play Sundowns in the same competition again.

“Maybe it is a good omen. The last time we were beaten by Sundowns, we went on to have a successful campaign in those three years Stuart was with Chiefs,” Mashamaite said. “So we can look at it as a new beginning. We won the Nedbank Cup and MTN8 under Stuart and two championships.

“Since then, there has been a drought and that’s the unpredictability of football. To use that game as a reference would be unfair. I believe Stuart is a good coach.”

The retired defender is backing Baxter to bring the glory days back to the club, especially with the new signings.

“I know he is someone who likes organisation and I feel that, for a couple of seasons now, Chiefs have been a bit directionless. They need someone who is going to restructure the team and move it forward and I think he is capable of that.”