Following Kaizer Chiefs' big Carling Knockout loss to Mamelodi Sundowns over the weekend, fan sentiment around head coach Nasreddine Nabi is starting to turn from hot to lukewarm, and KickOff takes a look at what the Tunisian's CV says about his ability to bounce back.
Nabi himself admitted that there has been a hype around his coaching appointment at Chiefs and pleaded with the media that it would be an exaggeration to expect him to make Amakhosi a team that can challenge for titles, in the early stages, especially having not won a trophy in nine years.
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Alarm bells started to ring after the side were outclassed and humiliated by a well-drilled Mamelodi Sundowns, who won 4-0 in the Carling Knockout quarterfinals.
Expectations for the Tunisian to do well at Naturena were heightened by the fact he won a double treble with Young Africans in 2021/22 and 2022/23, where he immediately attracted Chiefs' interest and came close to joining them before he was appointed by AS FAR Rabat.
However, perhaps his success at Yanga should be measured relatively, as prior to his appointment at Timu ya Wananchi, the league in Tanzania (at least since 2000), has only been won by either Simba or Yanga.
The only exception was in 2014 when Azam won their first and only title.
And so, winning a league title or cup tournaments with Yanga or Simba in Tanzania is an expectation, apart from the fact Nabi redeemed his reputation in Africa after leading the Tanzanian giants to the final of the 2022/23 CAF Confederation Cup.
He joined AS FAR as reigning champions and could not retain the title in his debut season, losing the championship by just one point to Raja Casablanca.
Before joining Yanga, Nabi's coaching record can only be traced from 2013, where for eight prior years, he was in the coaching wilderness.
After spending eight months at Al Ahli Benghazi between April and December of 2013, the Belgian-Tunisian could not last at least five matches in charge of the top-flight teams he coached thereafter.
He was relieved of his duties at Sudanese side Al Hilal after four matches in April 2014 and could also not surpass four games at Ismaily in 2016 (after a two-year coaching gap).
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The 59-year-old then went to coach Italian fourth-tier outfit USD PDHAE (after a three-year hiatus) and lasted only five months in 2019, before resurfacing at Al-Merrikh in January 2021 (after another three-year absence).
At the latter, he was dismissed after just three matches.
No doubt, the Chiefs coaching job ranks among Nabi's biggest tasks in his career and with the fickle nature of the fanbase, you are only as good as your last month and with a good three weeks to prepare for the next match, against Richards Bay, the tactician will be afforded time to fine-tune the squad some more.