UNDER the leadership of Khalil Ben Youssef from Tunisia and Cedric Kaze from Burundi, Kaizer Chiefs is on track to collect the highest number of points in all seasons since winning the Betway Premiership title in 2014-2015 coached by Stuart Baxter.
Although Chiefs’ seven-game unbeaten run in the league was ended by Siwelele FC on Wednesday, the Naturena team still has a chance to end the season with the number of points it has reached in 11 years.
When the Chiefs announced that Ben Youssef and Kaze would continue after firing Nasreddine Nabi, there were differences of opinion due to the experience of these coaches, one of whom had come to help the Tunisian coach, the other to interpret for him.
As the season draws to a close, the Chiefs’ decision to keep Ben Youssef and Kaze seems reasonable because of the team’s position on the log and the number of points.
In the last two seasons, Chiefs failed to enter the Top 8 but this time they are among the teams that will play in the MTN8 next season as there are still four games left in the Premiership season. In addition, it has the opportunity to return to the Caf Confederation which it played this season due to winning the Nedbank Cup last year.
Ben Youssef and Kaze are in line to surpass even the number of 57 points that Chiefs collected led by Ernst Middendorp when they gave up the league title on the last day of the 2019-2020 season.
This raises a question about the future of Ben Youssef and Kaze ku Makhosi since what they have done has defeated a number of respected coaches in South African football.
If the Chiefs win all the remaining games, they will finish with 59 points, which will be the number that makes Kaze and Ben Youssef better than Steve Komphela (50), Giovani Solinas/Middendorp (39), Gavin Hunt (36), Stuart Baxter returning for the second term (47), Arthur Zwane (44), Molefi Ntseki/Cavin Johnson and Nabi (32).
Since Baxter’s Chiefs in 2014/2015 who finished the season with 69 points, no other coach has come close to this except for Middendorp who disappointed the fans in 2019/2020.
The four remaining games for Kaze and Ben Youssef may have an impact on the difficult decisions that must be made by the managers of this Naturena team.
However, it all depends on how Chiefs do in the remaining matches against Mamelodi Sundowns, Sekhukhune United and MaZulu FC in the away game before wrapping up at home against Chippa United.