Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi has explained his decision to withdraw Thabo Cele in the second half of the Nedbank Cup final against Orlando Pirates.
Nabi, who joined at the start of the season, have had a topsy-turvy first tenure with the Naturena-based club and struggled for consistency particularly in the Betway Premiership.
Having lost twice to the Buccaneers in the league this season, the Amakhosi were eager to avenge those set-backs and did so through Gaston Sirino and skipper Yusuf Maart.
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“First, I’m very happy for the fans, all the fans. I’m happy for the chairman and all member of the family. I’m very happy for them, but for myself it’s a process. Process needs coaching,” Nabi told SuperSport TV.
Going ahead in the opening ten minutes through a stern penalty by Sirino, the Amakhosi saw their lead clipped by Evidence Makgopa.
The coach admits that they lost their way after the Sea Robbers bounced back and added that midfielder Thabo Cele has been playing half-fit and struggled with injuries recently.
Also, the introductions of Sibongiseni Mthethwa, Ashley Du Preez and Mduduzi Shabalala helped them to regain control of the match and go on to score the winner.
“After the equaliser of Orlando Pirates, we felt that we were losing our organisation which gave the opportunity to the opponents to take control of the game,” Nabi said.
“It was a little bit better in the second half, but we believe that people didn’t understand why we took out Cele but it someone that’s been struggling with injuries the last few weeks and he was tired.
“And we believe that the changes that we made with Ox, Ashley and Shabalala gave more balance to the team and it gave us more confidence to go forward and to score the second goal.
“I’m honest this is a process and I said please help me to continue to build respect the state of the process after it happened…I gave the team and go home. Please this is a first and congratulations to the team,” he added.
