Kaizer Chiefs’ coach Nasreddine Nabi says the club’s head honchos will make the decision on whether he should go or remain beyond the current season.
Chiefs have been underwhelming under Nabi this season. And that was not part of the plan when they hired him in July.
Nabi arrived in the country and Chiefs with a lofty billing, following spells at Young Africans of Tanzania and AS FAR of Morocco in which he did incredibly well.
But he hasn’t been able to live up to those expectations at Chiefs as he’s missed out on the MTN8 and Carling Knockout, while they are out of the Betway Premiership race as well.
Yes, Chiefs will not catch-up with log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns this season so much so that their chances of finishing eighth on the long run are also slim.
Slim haven’t left the room for now, and so are their chances of ending their 10-year trophy drought as they are still in the Nedbank Cup semi-final.
Chiefs will face Mamelodi Sundowns in the last four of the country’s premier club knockout competition on the back of three successive losses against the Brazilians.
And given that deficit, they are all but expected to be on the backfoot when they visit the champions of the land this evening in Hatfield.
Some Chiefs fans believe that Nabi should be sacked by the club should his team dare lose out on the chance to reach the final.
The Tunisian-born coach understands that the pressure is mounting for him, but he says his future is in the hands of the Chiefs hierarchy right now.
“I am not saying whether I deserve to stay here or I don’t,” Nabi said. “There’s a board, and they analyse the situation.
“They see the situation. They see every training, and every meeting before the game and after. So, they know what we are doing.
“So if they see that we don’t deserve to stay next season, I will go. But if they see that I deserve to stay, I will stay.
“But I am here, and working. I have a contract, processes and objectives. I trust my process, so I will work. I am not here to stay whether I must stay or not.”
Chiefs’ board seem to be still backing Nabi so much so that a video of club manager Bobby Motaung went viral this week, saying that they are behind Nabi - for now.
The coach, though, knows that football decisions can change any minute, but he believes he’ll honour his commitment at the club.
“If I understand the question, you are asking whether I will stay next season,” Nabi asked back.
“But I have to tell you that my contract is for two seasons. So, it's not me who’ll decide on my future. I have my process.
“The difference between me and other people is that I have processes, and they think the result. If we think like that, there is a difference in languages.”
Sure, Nabi might be a French speaking person, but the only language that he and the fans can understand for now is winning a trophy.
Chiefs can achieve that via the Nedbank Cup. But they’ll have to get past the best team in the land, Sundowns, in the semi-final at Loftus Versfeld tonight (6pm).
Nabi said he wasn’t under pressure to win the trophy as he doesn’t believe his future relies on it as his focus is on two things.
“The process is about two things - how we play and give chances to our kids - the DDC players,” Nabi said.
“We have played (Mfundo) Vilakazi, (Wandile) Duba, (Mduduzi) Shabalala, and other players. How many chances did they get to play in the first team?
“Secondly if we try to talk about the process, how many chances did we get and convert and the opposition got? Like that we can analyse.”