Kaizer Chiefs begin a new era under Tunisian coach Nasreddine Nabi. What does he bring to Naturena? Asks Mazola Molefe.

The social media frenzy from Kaizer Chiefs fans in anticipation of coach Nasreddine Nabi’s arrival will have you believe the Soweto giants have struck gold.

Chiefs had initially toyed with the idea of hiring the Tunisian mentor in July 2023 when he was about to leave Young Africans in Tanzania where he’d won a league and cup double in two successive seasons.

Perhaps that is where the excitement originated from, with Nabi also guiding Yanga to runners-up spot in the CAF Confederation Cup in the same year.

But the AmaKhosi hierarchy went in a different direction, opting for a surprise choice in Molefi Ntseki, the club’s head of youth now elevated to being the head coach after a disagreement with Nabi over his back-room staff.

While Ntseki was sacked in just 114 days on the hot seat, having been told to keep his predecessor Arthur Zwane as his assistant, their target moved on to Morocco – taking up a fresh challenge with FAR Rabat in the Botola Pro League.

And almost immediately Nabi adapted to his new surroundings like fish to water in battling for honours alongside Raja Casablanca, Wydad Athletic Club and RS Berkane.

Nabi’s FAR Rabat lost the league title on the final day of the 2023/24 campaign to Raja, who would deny them of a domestic Throne Cup a few weeks later as well.

There may have been no trophies to speak of from his tenure at Rabat, but the manner in which Nabi made sure the outfit carried the momentum from the previous season as title holders continued to be noticed by Chiefs.

AmaKhosi finally paid a reported compensation fee of around R1 million to get the coach out of the remaining year in his contract.

Speaking to Metro FM as Nabi’s move to the Glamour Boys was edging closer, his Raja counterpart Fadlu Davids described his traits – what Chiefs fans are now hoping will be evident during his time at Naturena.

“He has quite a direct approach in terms of scoring and going forward, with set pieces as well as really just ruthless in terms of how he plays,” explained Davids, now in Tanzania where he is in charge at Simba SC.

“They were difficult opponents to play against having inherited a team that won the league last season [that run helped along the way by Fernando Cruz, now part of Nabi’s back-room staff as his second assistant] as well.

It was a tough battle – they won eight games in a row after the January break.

“He is quite a difficult coach to play against. His teams are more direct in terms of going forward and scoring goals. They were the highest scoring team in the league but most of their goals came through set pieces and penalties.” Davids also highlighted some tactical differences between Raja and FAR Rabat in one of the intriguing title races in the Botola Pro League.

He said there were similarities between Nabi and Ernst Middendorp, a former Chiefs coach who also lost the championship on the final day of the 2019/20 campaign.

“They were a little bit more direct in their approach compared to our style that we played this season but very effective in getting the results. You can expect a team that moves forward and scores goals.

On set pieces, they will be a big threat. I think it is similar to the Middendorp style during the season where Chiefs missed out on winning the league.

They scored a lot of goals through set pieces and I think you will see a similar type of football that is result-driven by scoring a lot of goals and winning matches.”

Nabi’s most notable decisions as Chiefs coach was to insist on bringing along a technical team of his choice and having a say in where to schedule preseason, which was in Turkey and away from all the noise back in South Africa.

How that translates to what happens on the pitch as AmaKhosi look to redeem a reputation tarnished by a woeful 10th place finish under interim coach Cavin Johnson and going a decade without a single major trophy remains to be seen.