Kaizer Motaung Jnr, sporting director at Kaizer Chiefs, is advised to, among other things, hire a reliable long-term coach.
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Kaizer Chiefs icon Itumeleng Khune has called for an end to what he describes as a decade-long cycle of “rebuilding”, urging the club to appoint a long-term, experienced head coach capable of restoring sustained success at Naturena.
His comments come at a time of both progress and uncertainty for the Soweto giants, who finally ended their trophy drought in 2025 by lifting the Nedbank Cup — their only silverware in the past 10 years.
The campaign also brought signs of league improvement. Under co-coaches Cedric Kaze and Ben Khalil Youssef, who took over from Nasreddine Nabi early in the season, Chiefs secured a third-place finish in the Betway Premiership, earning CAF Confederation Cup qualification for next season.
It also marked their return to the top eight after a three-season absence, a step forward that suggested gradual recovery rather than stagnation.
However, despite that progress, the club opted for another technical reset at the end of the campaign, parting ways with the coaching duo and leaving the head coach position vacant once again.
For Khune, the revolving door at managerial level remains the biggest obstacle to sustained success.
“That word of rebuilding, we’ve heard it for the last ten years and for a team like Kaizer Chiefs, they just have to be consistent and keep one coach, a very experienced one that can come and take this project for the next five to ten years without rebuilding again,” he said.
Khune stressed that Chiefs’ identity is rooted in winning trophies, and anything short of that falls below the club’s historical standards.
“If you look at the past three seasons, Chiefs haven’t performed to their standards because there’s no trophies and Chiefs are known to be a club that are club specific lists.”
While acknowledging the step forward in league position and continental qualification, Khune insisted that progress must now be measured in silverware rather than structural improvement alone.
“We’ve found our feet against by finishing in the top eight in the last season and now hopefully we can start the season by winning the MTN8 and set the tone for the rest of the season, we can’t keep rebuilding every season, we just need to have a permanent figure there and Chiefs will win trophies again.”
Meanwhile, attention around Naturena continues to shift toward the vacant hotseat, with reports suggesting French-born coach Fernando Da Cruz is emerging as a leading candidate to take over the role.
High-profile names such as Manqoba Mngqithi and Pitso Mosimane have also been previously linked, reflecting the scale of expectation and pressure that comes with the position.
For Chiefs, the challenge now is clear: turn a season of progress into a foundation for sustained success — or risk slipping back into another cycle of transition.