Kaizer Chiefs will terminate the contract of coach Nasreddine Nabi at the end of the season.
The Sunday Times can reveal that the club’s top brass have decided against allowing Nabi — who was hired on a two-year deal in July, with an option to extend for another year — to continue beyond the 2024/25 campaign which concludes this month.
He will depart with his entire technical team. Nabi was tasked with the challenge of converting Chiefs from also-rans to credible competitors and contenders for titles. But the Tunisian’s tenure has been underwhelming, with the team producing pedestrian performances.
His mandate was to finish in the top three in the league, improve the team’s performance, build a consistent team and develop a playing identity. This has not been achieved, despite an investment in the region of R100m
— A highly placed insider
After several meetings discussing the unsatisfactory showing, the club hierarchy has resolved that “win or lose the Nedbank Cup, Nabi will be relieved of his duties” as he had fallen short of his mandate.
“The management and board have had three meetings since April, discussing how to steady the ship because things are not working to their expectation. It was decided that he will leave with his entire technical team. The [contractual] terms of [their] departure will be negotiated, particularly because he did not deliver”, a highly placed insider said.
“His mandate was to finish in the top three in the league, improve the team’s performance, build a consistent team and develop a playing identity. This has not been achieved despite an investment in the region of R100m. The feeling in the last meeting was clear: the club will not keep the coach.
“There has been a lot of investment and no results. The coach had a full preseason [in Türkiye], and 10 new players were recruited. He was allowed to bring a full technical team which has never happened before at Chiefs.”
With two games remaining, Chiefs lie a lowly ninth in the Betway Premiership log standings on 30 points with eight wins from 26 matches. Amakhosi are in danger of finishing outside the top eight for two seasons in a row.
They will play the penultimate match against Sekhukhune United at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday, and will complete the campaign by hosting Polokwane City at FNB Stadium on May 24.
In 33 matches in all competitions, excluding yesterday’s final, Nabi’s record reads: 13 wins, seven draws, and 13 defeats.
The insider said there was concern among Chiefs bosses that Nabi did not accept accountability. “The concern is that he will not [be able] to redeem himself next season. The other thing they complain about is that his style of play has not been consistent. He keeps chopping and changing his line-up.”
Nabi angered Amakhosi management in February when after the 1-0 win against Stellenbosch, he revealed to reporters that the Tunisia Football Association had offered him the national team job. “I have been offered an opportunity to go coach my country, and we have sat together and we have decided that I’m going to pass on this big opportunity to coach my mother country, because I feel it's an honour to be here, and I say thank you to everyone, to the management,” he said then.
This week, Nabi was quoted by a soccer publication saying he enjoyed the backing of Chiefs management, something the Sunday Times has learnt is no longer the case. “The relationship soured when he spoke to the media about an offer he had received in Tunisia.”
Given his reputation as a double treble-winning coach with Tanzania’s leading club Young Africans, and leading AS FAR Rabat to a runners-up finish in Morocco last season, Nabi’s arrival injected hopes of a turnaround among Amakhosi fans.
But nine months later, his stewardship of the outfit that has endured a decade-long dearth of silverware, has drawn mixed feelings. While some sections believe he should continue the challenge of breathing life back into the fallen giant, others are disgruntled by the team’s indifference, and are calling for his dismissal.
In announcing Nabi’s appointment in July, Chiefs sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jr said, “after what has been a fairly exhaustive vetting process”, they had found the man to return the Glamour Boys to greatness. “It gives us great pleasure to finally welcome our new head coach. We believe we have found the right man to fulfil our vision of restoring Amakhosi to our rightful place at the top of the football pyramid, and we welcome coach Nabi and his technical team with the pledge of unity and support in pursuit of our common goal.”
Amid the excitement of the announcement, his then first assistant coach Fernando Da Cruz arrived ahead of the new brains trust. Days later, Nabi came along with assistant coach Khalil Ben Youssef, goalkeeper coach Ilyes Mzoughi and strength and conditioning coach Safi Majdi.
Da Cruz, however, stayed at Chiefs for only two months, leaving in September, weeks before the start of the season, to join the Morocco Football Federation. In October, Cedric Kazi was added as another assistant, “a strategic position to bolster the club’s performance and aspirations for the season”, Chiefs announced on its website.
“His familiarity with coach Nabi's methods and their proven partnership will be invaluable as we aim for excellence on the pitch.”
Chiefs management were not available for comment.
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