Former Young Africans SC CEO Senzo Mbatha revealed a key factor that contributed to Nasreddine Nabi’s success in Tanzania, which was missing at Kaizer Chiefs. Mbatha brought the Tunisian coach to the Jangwani giants, and together they secured six trophies in just two seasons.
While Nabi ended the Soweto giants’ 10-year trophy drought by winning the Nedbank Cup, he was unable to secure a top-eight finish in his first season. After 14 months in charge of the club, alongside his own backroom staff, he parted ways with the club.
Interestingly, it took him just six months at Yanga to transform the club’s fortunes, ending a four-year league title drought and breaking Simba SC’s dominance.
WHAT KEY FACTOR HELPED NABI SUCCEED AT YANGA THAT HE DIDN’T HAVE AT CHIEFS
“At Yanga, there are always one or two [local] guys who are part of the technical team. Whether Nabi brings his assistant or his fitness coach [they remain there], their responsibility is to help Nabi understand, first and foremost, the players. Number two, the culture of the club. Number three, deal with the issues of culture shock,” Mbatha told SAFJA journalists on Thursday.
“Tanzanian players, for instance, found it difficult to accept [a coach from outside]. There must be someone next to him to make them confident enough to ask questions. Some people take this for granted. The coach can stand in front of players and start talking about low block, and players don’t even understand what he’s saying.”
At Chiefs, Nabi brought two assistant coaches, a goalkeeper coach and a strength and conditioning expert. “I did not see someone truly rooted in Kaizer Chiefs who would be working very closely with Nabi in managing the team. Coaching a club or a team is never the sole responsibility of the head coach.”
‘HE’S THAT TYPE OF A COACH’: SENZO MBATHA
Mbatha went on to describe Nabi’s coaching style, highlighting how he differs from Pitso Mosimane.
“Some coaches are really good at that, and they can really manage everything from players to everything. The likes of Pitso [Mosimane]. Coach Pitso can run his team. You don’t have to worry as a manager when you work with Pitso. The only time you worry is when you go to the boardroom and ask him a question, why is he losing? That’s the only time that you engage,” added Mbatha.
“But you’ll never worry about the preparation and the readiness and the understanding of the players, because he’s that type of a coach.”
On the other hand, Mbatha stated that Nabi is someone who requires support to excel. “He’s somebody who does not have to start a letter from scratch; a letter must be written and be put in front of him for him to edit and put it in the context that he wants to put it.”
RELATED STORY: Nabi waves Chiefs goodbye with Ben Youssef and Kaze snub