Former Kaizer Chiefs star Willard Katsande has outlined the timeline for Amakhosi fans to anticipate a league championship under the guidance of Nasreddine Nabi.
The Tunisian tactician, brought in to revive the club’s fortunes after a decade-long silverware drought, has a proven track record of success. Prior to joining Chiefs, he secured a domestic double treble with Young Africans of Tanzania.
“For me, I’m one hundred per cent positive, even from the beginning when they hired the coach,” said Katsande.
“The most important thing…I’m talking as a supporter. You need to respect what the management has done, which is to appoint the coach. We just need to support whatever we have. This is the generation that will take us where we [want to go].
“I’m one hundred per cent confident that the coach is going to do well, and even the new players who came in and those who have been there for a long time are also going to contribute [to Chiefs’ success].
“The most important thing for us as supporters and football lovers is we need to be patient with the coach because football is a project whereby it’s not overnight. Maybe for some coaches, the philosophy starts rubbing on players after six months. Some hit the ground running as quickly as possible.”
Katsande added: “But the most important thing is, can we see the positive out of everything we are trying to do? The coach needs at least four transfer windows for us to say ‘compete to win the league’.
“If we have a fantastic season and can try to qualify for [the CAF] Confederation Cup this season and grab a trophy to redeem ourselves again.
“We’ve been talking, ‘this is our season, it’s going to be fine’, but now we just need to push and win something.”
While Nabi narrowly missed out on the league title in his previous role at Moroccan outfit AS FAR, Nabi’s consistent performance has placed high expectations on his shoulders at Naturena.
Katsande, a two-time league champion with Chiefs, has urged the Amakhosi faithful to unite behind Nabi as he embarks on rebuilding the team.