IF FIRST impressions really do last, then it is safe to say that the one made by Nasreddine Nabi at Kaizer Chiefs has not earned him brownie points with the Amakhosi faithful.
Brought in as the latest coach to try and help South Africa’s most supported club reclaim their glory years, Nabi’s initial match in charge will definitely go down as an episode in the club’s recent pathetic history best forgotten. The Tunisian oversaw an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Tanzania’s Young Africans in the pre-season Toyota Cup and while the discerning Chiefs followers would not have read much into that, there were those who wondered just how the club came to believe Nabi is the man to turn things around.
But pre-season matches are not a true indicator of what is to come in the campaign and it would be folly to read too much into that clash. After all, Nabi had had very little time with the team back then and it was understandable he had not put his stamp on their play yet.
Fast forward to today and things have to be different. Thanks to the unusually late start to the league campaign, Nabi has had ample time to work on the team and instil his coaching ways. And tonight at the same venue where he was outsmarted by the club he had previously led to two domestic championships and the main knockout cup, Nabi gets the chance to win the hard-to-please Chiefs fans over.
It is commonly said that the league championship is the equivalent of a marathon – a long run in which what matters is how you finish and not so much how you start. For Nabi though, his start to the 2024/25 Betway Premiership is very important. He has to endear himself to the Chiefs fans. He has to make the long-suffering Amakhosi believe. He has to make the gold and black brigade trust that he has what it takes to bring them some happiness following nine years of glum in which their club has failed to win silverware.
Nabi has to lead Chiefs to victory against newcomers Marumo Gallants who host them this afternoon if there is to be some semblance of excitement among Chiefs fans that their club could return to the glory years.
It is a match Chiefs have to win. A match they must win. Their standing in the local game demands that they do. They are facing an upstart of a club that should actually not be among the country’s elite for Pete’s sakes. Gallants bought their way into the Premiership instead of earning promotion the traditional way – win the second tier division outright or get to the top via the play-offs. Surely, if Chiefs can’t put such a club to the sword then they have no business expecting their followers to trust that they would avoid going a decade without a trophy?
The Motaungs have spent a lot of money strengthening their squad with the acquisition of some international players – Rwanda’s Fiacri Ntwari, Angolan Miguel Inacio as well as South Africa’s Rushwin Dortley – and that investment has to show on the pitch.
The likes of Gaston Sirino, Njabulo Blom and Bongani Sam are seasoned campaigners held in pretty high regard and Nabi better get them to gel with the rest of the squad for him to form a team potent enough to see Chiefs back among the country’s top clubs.
Of course, it would be unrealistic to expect them to be the team to stop Mamelodi Sundowns from winning an eighth successive championship title. There is a lot of rebuilding that needs to be done by Amakhosi. But since their inception in 1970, Chiefs have built themselves up to be the giants of local football, and even after they’d fallen from grace with the recent poor form – they still continue to be seen as a big club.
And anyone who takes charge of the club or dons the famous gold and black jersey is expected to push for glory – unrealistic as it might appear for many given the previous nine barren seasons.
Nabi and his players better start this one as if it were a sprint and not the marathon league championships are. If only to change the initial impression they’ve created via that defeat against Yanga.