Easy coaching choice cop out

Whether the decision to demote Arthur Zwane and promote Molefi Ntseki was a sound one, it is certain that it was the easiest and least ambitious option. Instead of paying the high salary and bowing to the demands of a big-name coach, Kaizer Chiefs gave Ntseki his firstever head coaching role in top-flight club football. When that decision backfired and a change was made in October after just 13 matches, they again simply appointed the nearest employee instead of searching for the right man. Effectively, they were already writing off their season to some degree when there was plenty to salvage from it with 21 league matches still to play!

Even clubs like Richards Bay, Cape Town City, Stellenbosch FC and Sekhukhune United allow their head coach to have more than one assistant coach (and that’s not to mention Mamelodi Sundowns or Orlando Pirates). Either there is a second assistant in place at those clubs or there are technical staff working in the background besides just a head coach, one assistant, a goalkeeping coach and conditioning staff, like we see at Amakhosi. Ernst Middendorp was not allowed to bring his chosen extra assistant and Gavin Hunt arrived alone into the lion’s den. It’s imperative for Chiefs to give the new coach the full and complete technical team of his choice.

Are there any effective combinations?

You can’t look at Chiefs’ season and argue that there has been a single partnership, pairing or area of the pitch where something is building. Normally you’d look at the centre back duo, the central midfield double pivot or the strike pairing (if applicable) or at how the fullback and his winger interact and so forth. Such has been the constant tinkering and the lack of any clear playing style; we don’t see any such progress. By now, you’d think that Sifiso Hlanti and Pule Mmodi would have built some understanding. Or perhaps Reeve Frosler and Christian Saile would be developing something down the right even Yusuf Maart and Edson Castillo in the midfield would be finding a balance.

Instead, the only time we’ve seen anything resembling cohesion was when Thatayaone Ditlhokwe and Given Msimango were selected together in the early matches. An injury to the former played a part, but that pairing only looked effective anyway when defending deep. When it came to build-up play or defensive work in big spaces, that duo was exposed. Maart and Castillo initially had many games together, but any progress was halted by trying to find space to accommodate Sibongiseni Mthethwa. Of late, Cavin Johnson has left Castillo and Maart on the bench with regularity to start Siyethemba Sithebe, a player who had one foot out of the door! Castillo’s form has gone off a cliff under Cavin Johnson and the fullback areas are a muddle with attacking right back and left backs, defensive ones, younger options, veteran options, converted wingers, and the right-footed Frosler often finding himself at left back. Half a dozen players have been tried at number nine and as number 10.

The youth has stagnated

As we mentioned in last week’s feature on Mduduzi Shabalala, the playmaker has only played one full match this entire season and most of his minutes have been on the wing! Ntseki often spoke of being part of a squad audit that was undertaken. Yet, players were signed in the same positions as some of last year’s breakout stars in Shabalala and Samkelo Zwane!

The Siya Crew warned that Mduduzi Mdantsane was arriving in a position with two academy number 10s early in place (Shabalala and Nkosingiphile Ngcobo). There was also concern that Mthethwa would totally block the minutes of Zwane and that has proven to be spot on. Ntseki barely used the young players and it’s fallen on Johnson to reintegrate them into the plans. He deserves credit for handing starts to Wandile Duba and bringing Ngcobo back into the plans, but he predictably took the negative route against Sundowns and dropped Shabalala in favour of a more defensive player in Sithebe. A new coach could arrive and rewatch Chiefs’ matches this season and see Shabalala floundering as a winger, unaware of what he can truly deliver as a number 10. Unless the new coach watched Samkelo Zwane’s outings from the 2022/23 season, he may have no idea what the midfielder is capable of.

The Sundowns game was rock bottom

A 5-1 loss at home to Mamelodi Sundowns is about as bad as it can get. And Downs only started three of the same players in the Nedbank Cup semi-final on Sunday, showing that it was almost entirely a secondstring XI vs Chiefs! Whilst the result is terrible, Johnson’s post-match comments were “The Chiefs team I saw in the last 15 minutes isn’t one I recognise.” Firstly, he is slamming the lack of pride in his team which saw them collapse and concede three goals after the 80th minute.

However, much of the blame for the defeat has to go on the coach himself. The lack of a proper ‘rest defence’ structure led to the red card (albeit with Thembinkosi Lorch blocking off Ditlhokwe). For any other coach, a change to make immediately or at least at half-time was to introduce a fourth specialist defender. Both Njabulo Ngcobo and Happy Mashiane were on the bench. Instead, Yusuf Maart was moved to play right back for the first time in his Chiefs career. At times towards the end, we saw Mthethwa trying to press high and Mashiane making runs through the middle. It was a baffling way to reorganise the team. Chiefs have lost six of their last seven matches against Sundowns and Thursday represented a chance to try out a different gameplan or to give experience to players against the champions in their favoured positions.

The new coach needs time

Whoever comes in as the new coach will need all the time he can get. There are so many big questions to be made, not least on the makeup of the technical team, the players needed in the transfer window and which of the current squad to hold onto. Someone like Jasond

Gonzalez is certainly leaving after predictably flopping on these shores as a foreign-language speaker and with a lack of minutes or a clear best role. The incoming coach will need to decide on Keagan Dolly – or may have that decision made by the board without his input – as well as seeing off Itumeleng Khune and potentially other free agents. Even a club like West Ham are already picking their new manager for next season before this one even ends. We see Bayern Munich talking to potential replacements for Thomas Tuchel despite there being league and cup matches left to play. Chelsea once announced Antonio Conte as their new coach in April ahead of beginning work on 1 July. That sort of clarity helped the players to focus, and the Blues ended up going from a 10th place finish to wining the league.

Chiefs can’t sit on their hands and wait until June or July to announce their new coach. They should not be waiting until 30 June to part way with unwanted players either. As was stated in the feature on whether Chiefs’ have a best XI, there are some matches ahead to start putting together the blueprint for next season.