Amazing how one big win gave Nabi and Chiefs such a shot in the arm

Kaizer Chiefs and their coach Nasreddine Nabi will sincerely hope Sunday was the turning point.

Chiefs' management will hope that because changing course now, having invested so much in 59-year-old Nabi and his technical staff to turn around nine past seasons without silverware, would be an exhausting, expensive and exasperating exercise.

To be fair to any coach arriving at Naturena in the last half-decade, such a mission has not been easy. The club has made many mistakes, hiring and firing coaches seemingly without a clear plan in terms of requirements. Many player signings were below par.

Nabi has done nowhere near enough to suggest he is the extraordinary coach who can succeed where others failed since his arrival ahead of the season. There was a bright start, then Chiefs lost their way. Around mid-September to December they appeared to be finding it again, losing two games in 10. Ahead of Sunday’s Nedbank Cup semifinal against Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld, it seemed things might have taken a downturn to the extent Chiefs’ management might battle to justify continuing with Nabi.

Chiefs had not won in four Betway Premiership matches, with two wins out of their last 10, to be stuck in eighth place for weeks. Downs were competing at a higher level, reaching the Caf Champions League semifinals with an impressive quarterfinal win against coach Miguel Cardoso’s old side, who he steered to last year’s final, Esperance de Tunis, and had a 12-point lead in the Premiership.

It is remarkable what one match can do to bring about what seems a shot in the arm. Amakhosi supporters should also know they should not get carried away by one big win, and one cup final, as has been a trait that has attracted mirth from rival fans.

However, Chiefs’ stirring 2-1 win against Downs just might be the tonic to restore what seemed to be a rebuilding project going off the rails under Nabi.

It brought a first domestic cup final in six years since the Nedbank shock under Ernst Middendorp to then-first division TS Galaxy at the end of the 2018-19 campaign. A huge-profile Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates awaits in the May 10 final at Moses Mabhida Stadium. For all the misery in 2024-25, Chiefs will remain in the hunt for a trophy until the last day.

Given Nabi — strategically surely for job retention, as much as in how much he’s meant it — has reminded at every turn this campaign is for rebuilding, competing at such a late stage for a trophy seems a reasonable achievement. That especially given how long it has been since Chiefs have reached that stage. And the coach has repeatedly stated in recent weeks, perhaps also strategically, qualifying for the Confed was his other remaining aim.

After beating Sundowns at the fourth attempt after three defeats, Nabi was not about to change his tune on 2024-25 being 'part of the process'.

“In the last two games against Sundowns, they got two or three chances against us where they were lucky to score, we were unlucky to not score,” he said. “We used that to discuss it with the players that we were near to winning the games but just some problems, some mistakes and sometimes we were unlucky.”

“Looking at how Sundowns started, except for [Bathusi] Aubaas coming in for [Jayden] Adams, it was their first team. In five days they have a [Champions League] semifinal against Al Ahly — they showed how much they respect us that they [picked their best team and] came to win.

“We showed we are going in the right direction. But we are in a process.”

It wasn’t just a big win against Downs that got Chiefs to the Nedbank final. They beat third tier Free Agents 4-0 in the last 32 in January — previous Amakhosi combinations slipped in such matches, earning the club a reputation for being susceptible to embarrassments by giant-killers. Chiefs saw off Chippa United 3-0 in the last 16 and tough Stellenbosch FC 3-1 in the quarterfinals.

Throw in the comeback win against Downs, and four wins, 12 goals scored and two conceded make for a strong campaign from a side that has been unable to find consistency in the league.

Most of the season has, realistically, not offered enough from Nabi to inspire enthusiasm. The Nedbank bucks that trend.

It must surely have come partly due to pure determination. Once the other competitions fell by the wayside, the Nedbank being the one tournament where Chiefs can avoid the ignominy of being the generation to usher in a decade without silverware had to be a major motivator.

Nabi, though, also wants supporters to take note of some emerging talent who, with greater experience, he assures will make his side more competitive in 2025-26. He suggests giving experience to such players has come at some cost of consistency this season, but can show results down the line.

Mfundo Vilakazi, who scored late against Stellies in the Nedbank; Mduduzi Shabalala and Wandile Duba, scorer of the equaliser against Downs and one of Chiefs' most consistently threatening attackers, are emerging stars coping well with the pressure of playing at such a sizeable, underachieving institution.

Chiefs' under-23s are second in the DStv Diski Challenge (DDC), a competition Amakhosi have never won, to Stellies by two points, with two games in hand. Nabi was asked about one of the defensive stars of that side, 21-year-old Aden McCarthy, warming up with the seniors at Loftus.

The coach revealed a line-up of walking wounded that makes the shock of Downs in their backyard more impressive. He also indicated there are more young players from the DDC who are close to a breakthrough.

“The plan for the season has been to build the team and also to give the DDC players a chance. We saw Duba was one of the best players in the game today. We bring players all the time from the DDC to train with us so we can see if they are ready. We don’t think about age, just of they deserve to play they must.

—  Nasreddine Nabi

“Before this game we lost [centreback Inácio] Miguel. [Edmilson] Dove played with an injury, Zitha [Kwinika] was on the bench with an injury. Because of that Aden has been training with us [the first team].

“Thabo Cele also had an injury. And when you see that you can understand how much these players love this team and how they deserve to be in the final.

“The plan for the season has been to build the team and also to give the DDC players a chance. We saw Duba was one of the best players in the game today. We bring players all the time from the DDC to train with us so we can see if they are ready. We don’t think about age, just of they deserve to play they must.

“[Nkosana] Mbuthu, ‘Pelembe’ [Manqoba Ozoemena], there are a lot of players.”

Some of the January signings, including Cele and Glody Lilepo, have also shown potential; and so have some signed in the preseason, including Miguel. Ashley du Preez, who capped a recent two-year extension producing the last-gasp winner against Sundowns, at 27 shows signs of entering a mature phase.

It is nowhere near as bad a squad as deserving eighth place. Nabi has put all his stock on being judged next season. He certainly will be. Reaching a cup final, continental football and with a trophy in 2024-25 still in play, his job in 2025-26 seems that margin easier. So far he has mostly got off lightly for the tribulations of this campaign. The next one, if it was a movie, could be titled Judgment Season.