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Will Kaizer Motaung Jnr stick to his words TODAY?

If Kaizer Motaung Jnr’s words are anything to go by, Arthur Zwane could be the chosen man to take over the reins at Naturena. The Kaizer Chiefs sporting director’s pinned tweet with two pictures of Arthur Zwane and his assistant Dillon Sheppard reads: “A different class these two gentlemen are! Local excellence”. 

Chiefs on Wednesday evening invited journalists for a press conference where an important announcement is set to be made on Thursday at 10 am. Motaung Jnr, who serves as sporting director of the Soweto giants, is on record as saying Zwane understands the club’s philosophy and possesses the blueprint on how to bring out quick, dynamic, youthful, attack-minded footballers.

Zwane has been at Chiefs for the past 22 years, serving the club as a player before rising through the ranks as a coach. In recent weeks, after taking over from Stuart Baxter on an interim basis, he has been vocal about the need for a cultural reset at the club and bringing in the right type of players to return to the ‘Kaizer Chiefs way’. 

If Chiefs go with the 48-year-old Zwane, they would have followed Barcelona when they had their former midfielder Pep Guardiola, who started off coaching the Spanish giants’ B team, becoming the first-team coach. Under his tutelage, Barca won 14 titles in four years, including two Champions League trophies, multiple La Liga crowns and other domestic titles. 

Real Madrid have previously gone the same route, with former ‘Galactico’ Zinedine Zidane starting his coaching career as coach of the second team. He later replaced Benitez, who was the then head coach, in January 2016. Six months later, he won the Champions League with the team. His Madrid team won three UCL titles in a row. He briefly left his position as a coach but returned ten months later to add another La Liga title.

Zwane joined Chiefs in a highly publicised move in 2000 from Tembisa Classic and enjoyed a 10-year stint in which he lifted 15 major trophies, including two league titles. The former Bafana Bafana winger was pushed to retire from professional football by former coach Vladimir Vermezovic in 2010 and assumed the role of assistant coach to the Serbian mentor. 

He was then redeployed to the club’s youth structures while busy with his coaching badges. The man nicknamed ‘10111’ was made the club’s MultiChoice Diski Challenge (MDC) team head coach. He had a hand in developing several Amakhosi first-team players, including Njabulo Blom, Nkosingiphile Ngcobo, Sabelo Radebe and Happy Mashiane.

Last season, arguably their worst in recent years, Zwane took over from Gavin Hunt towards the end and guided them to a top-eight finish and the 2021 Caf Champions League final. Baxter was then brought in. It will be a huge surprise if the club does not give him a chance to take the team forward. 

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