Former Kaizer Chiefs coach Calvin Johnson has weighed in on the club’s ninth place finish in the PSL which saw them miss out of the top eight for a second season on the bounce.
Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi presided over a poor campaign in the PSL with just eight wins in 28 matches and while he won the Nedbank Cup, the feeling among fans is that his first season at the club has been disappointing.
That had led to reports that Nabi could be sacked even after ending Chiefs’ 10-year wait for a trophy as clubs with much lower budgets and squads that have less quality than Amakhosi did way better than his team.
Sekhukhune United, TS Galaxy, AmaZulu, Polokwane City and Richards Bay, who finished in fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eight positions respectively, have smaller budgets than what Nabi has at his disposal yet they did better and according to Johnson, the Glamour Boys really disappointed.
What does Johnson make of Chiefs’ season?
“As far as Kaizer Chiefs are concerned, I do believe that with the signings they made this season and the fact that they brought a new technical team, they should have done better than what they have done. Better than what they achieved this season,” Johnson, who was one of the coaches in charge when Chiefs finished 10th in 2024-24, said as quoted by FARPost.
Nabi has blamed his poor campaign on a lack of a quality squad but even those he has did not cover themselves in glory this season.
The veteran coach was also backed with a host of new signings with goalkeeper Fiacre Ntwari, defenders Rushwin Dortley, Miguel Inacio, Bradley Cross and Bongani Sam, midfielders Gaston Sirino and Njabulo Blom arriving in the off-season before the January additions of Tashreeq Morris, Thabo Cele and Glody Makabi Lilepo.
Despite all these, Nabi’s team still failed to rise to the occasion and finished the season without winning any of their final nine league games with defeats to Richards Bay, Golden Arrows and Marumo Gallants witnessed during that period.
