Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Cedric Kaze has responded to Nasreddine Nabi’s farewell message posted on Instagram, in which he expressed gratitude to everyone but did not mention Kaze or Khalil Ben Youssef.
Nabi recently parted ways with the Chiefs after 15 months as head coach, a tenure marked by success as he achieved what many failed to do: ending the club’s 10-year trophy drought.
As he departed from the club, Kaze and Ben Youssef remained in charge of the team despite having joined him at Naturena. The Tunisian coach mentioned club chairman Dr Kaizer Motaung, along with most of his staff, including goalkeeper coach Ilyes Mzoughi and conditioning coach Majdi Safi.
His omission of Kaze and Ben Youssef, with whom he has had longer working relationships dating back to their time at Young Africans in Tanzania, raised eyebrows. It suggested that the assistants did not see eye to eye with the coach.
WHAT CEDRIC KAZE SAID ABOUT NABI’S FAREWELL POST
“About the letter, I don’t have any comment,” the Burundian mentor said on Monday. “I worked with Nabi for three seasons, and I wish him well. I told him that, and I hope that he will find something that suits him in the near future. And I wish him all the best.”
On taking the reins, Kaze said that he and Ben Youssef both had the necessary experience, having been in the game for a long time. He emphasised that after Nabi’s departure, the most important thing was “continuity.”
“The players believe in what we are building. Everyone is optimistic. We’re proud to be leading a club like Kaizer Chiefs.
When you see some comments on social media, you’d think everyone is a coach and has an opinion on who should play and who shouldn’t. We know what you’re doing. We have experience … we know the tricks of Africa…We know that we can achieve big things.”
Chiefs just returned from a CAF Confederation Cup first leg, Second Preliminary Round clash against AS Simba, which ended goalless. They shift their focus to their league clash against Siwelele FC at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday. Thereafter, they take on the DR Congo side on Sunday at the Dobsonville Stadium.
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