Itumeleng Khune has come out in strong support of Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi amid talk, from other media, that the club is considering parting ways with the Tunisian mentor despite his historic cup success.
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Nabi guided the Soweto giants to their first piece of silverware in nearly a decade with a hard-fought Nedbank Cup victory over arch-rivals Orlando Pirates, yet there are growing suggestions that the club could opt for a change at the end of the season.
This is contrary to reports by Soccer Laduma, where Siya sources have indicated that Amakhosi management met and decided to retain Nabi for next season. The sources added that the only way Nabi might not be at the helm in future, is if he himself decides to part ways with the club.
Now Khune, one of the longest-serving figures at the club and someone who has seen his fair share of coaching changes at Naturena, tells the Siya crew that parting ways with Nabi now would be a step backward.
"I think, my personal opinion, he should be given more time," said the 36-year-old veteran to the Siya crew.
"He has built something very special. Yes, Chiefs have been inconsistent in the league, but they broke the drought by winning the cup. So, it's a sign of good things to come."
Khune believes that Nabi has already laid the groundwork and deserves the opportunity to take the team further, especially with multiple competitions looming in the new campaign.
"Obviously, MTN8 is around the corner. The league, again, it's a marathon. Then you have the Black Label Cup, you have Nedbank Cup, and you have CAF Confederation Cup that you need to focus on," he said.
"Coach Nabi has already built a foundation. If I were Kaizer Chiefs, I was going to give him more time to be the driver of the train or the bus. Because if you want to change him now, someone who's going to come in again, he's going to be in the building phase."
Nabi took over at Chiefs at the beginning of the 2024/25 campaign and was tasked with turning around the fortunes of a club that has not won the league title since 2015. Despite a mixed league campaign, he secured silverware and brought a sense of structure and identity that has been missing in recent seasons.
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"He's already done the foundation. Now he's in the building process. And he showed in the Nedbank Cup what he's capable of, he can deliver more trophies for the club," Khune added.
"So for me, personally, I would give him more time to continue where he left off. Because at the end of the day, it's always good where you left off to start from and build and continue the journey. I think that would be the best decision the club will ever make, to say he has won, he has shown the good signs, let's give him more time," Khune concluded to Soccer Laduma.
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