KAIZER Chiefs sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jr has some tough decision to make regarding the technical team as they wrap the season and prepare for the next one.
Image: Kaizer Chiefs
The unraveling of Kaizer Chiefs’ season has inevitably brought the spotlight back onto the technical bench.
A campaign that once promised signs of stability has instead drifted into another period of uncertainty, and as the dust begins to settle, attention is turning toward the future of the co-coaching duo of Cedric Kaze and Youssef Ben Khalil.
At this point, it increasingly feels like their tenure at Naturena is approaching its natural conclusion.
The pair initially arrived as assistants to former head coach Nasreddine Nabi, part of a carefully assembled technical group that the Tunisian insisted on bringing with him.
In fact, Nabi was reportedly unwilling to join Chiefs without his trusted backroom staff, which included goalkeeper coach Ilyes Mzoughi, and strength and conditioning coach Safi Majdi.
That context makes what followed even more surprising.
When Nabi left at the start of the season, Chiefs opted to retain parts of that technical structure rather than starting over entirely.
It was a decision that raised eyebrows at the time, but it also reflected a club desperate for continuity after years of chopping and changing coaches.
Continuity, however, only works when results are supportive of the plan.
As the season has worn on, inconsistency on the pitch has gradually eroded whatever stability that decision was meant to bring.
Performances have fluctuated, confidence has dipped and the pressure around Naturena has intensified — a familiar story in recent years.
This now leaves Chiefs facing a fundamental question at the end of the season.
Do they completely overhaul the technical team and begin another rebuild from scratch, or do they retain some of the current staff to support a new head coach?
There are arguments on both sides.
A full overhaul would represent a clean break. It would allow a new coach to arrive with a fresh philosophy, his own trusted assistants and a unified footballing vision.
For a club of Chiefs’ stature, clarity of direction has often been missing in recent seasons.
Yet there is also risk in constantly starting over.
Chiefs have spent the better part of the last decade cycling through coaches and technical teams, each bringing their own ideas before the club inevitably presses the reset button again.
That cycle has rarely delivered the stability required to rebuild a winning culture.
Retaining elements of the current technical staff could offer continuity behind the scenes.
Individuals like Kaze and Khalil have already spent time inside the club and understand the internal dynamics that often challenge new arrivals.
But ultimately the decision must revolve around one principle: long-term direction.
If Chiefs truly believe they are embarking on a new football project, then the technical team must reflect that vision from top to bottom. Partial solutions have rarely worked at Naturena.
The coming months will therefore reveal whether Amakhosi choose another patchwork solution — or finally commit to a complete reset in the dugout.