Siphiwe Tshabalala calls on incoming Kaizer Chiefs coach to prioritise club identity

Kaizer Chiefs legend Siphiwe Tshabalala says it will be important for the team’s incoming head coach to plan his philosophy and approach around the club’s identity and culture, and not the other way round.

Chiefs are set to appoint a new coach ahead of the new season. This follows after duo Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef were released at the end of last season following the expiry of their contracts.

Coincidentally, reports have been rife that Chiefs are closing in on Fernando Da Cruz – who was supposed to be one of the assistants, alongside Ben Youssef, to last season’s sacked coach Nasreddine Nabi – to take over the reins.

Da Cruz’s links with Chiefs have drawn criticism, especially from most of the club’s faithful. They feel that the team is stuck in the Nabi era, which notably yielded only one trophy and a third-place finish in two seasons, while others are unhappy with the Frenchman’s track record.

Tshabalala, who enjoyed a decorated spell at Chiefs, including winning two Premiership titles, has shared pearls of wisdom for the incoming coach – whether it’s Da Cruz or someone else – saying the club’s values must come first.

“There has to be a buy-in from the coach,” Tshabalala stated. “The coach will present his own philosophy and plan, but if he doesn’t find success in that he’s going to leave. Whoever is coming in, might also want to bring in his philosophy – there won’t be progress.

“But if it’s the club, then you know it’s the values and philosophy of the club. This is the identity. You then work on that.”

Tshabalala insists that the incoming personnel already has a solid foundation to build on. This comes after the team finished strong in the Betway Premiership last season, securing third place on the log behind champions Orlando Pirates and runners-up Mamelodi Sundowns.

“You look at Chiefs, one would say that finishing third wasn’t a good season, but when you look at where Chiefs come from, in terms of consistency, they have improved. They were consistent last season and accumulated a lot of points,” Tshabalala said.

“Towards the end you could see that there was a team that collected points. You cannot play good football all the time, but what matters is that even if you don’t play good football, you still get points. They did that.”

Given all that, Tshabalala feels that there will be added pressure on the coach to hit the ground running, which is why he must join the club with a clear understanding of expectations.

“Next season it will be war,” Tshabalala declared. “There’ll be more pressure, and they should embrace it. Whoever comes must understand that they are coming into an environment where there’s pressure, and less patience from the fans.

“The players must step up quickly. There also needs to be a buy-in from the players and the coach. I hope that they’ll understand the philosophy as quickly as possible.”

Tshabalala is not naive, however, to think that Chiefs will be on the level of their arch-rivals Pirates and Sundowns to compete next season. He insists that they still need to dig deep, blend together as a team, and find the right balance across the board.

“It’s clear now you must compete for everything on offer,” Tshabalala said. “Whether you are still in the building phase, results and trophies matter.

“You can see the competition is high – Pirates won the league for eight years in a row, and Pirates have just been crowned champions of the league. I think that’s good for football. They’ve pushed Sundowns until the end.”