Wednesday | June 28, 2022
From what could be interpreted as a demotion for coach Arthur Zwane at Kaizer Chiefs Football Club, can, in the same breath, be seen as a promotion for the former Bafana Bafana head coach Molefi Ntseki. After much wild speculation of who will take over at Chiefs beset by unyielding dry seasons, the club management went for a familiar and domestic face.
Ex-South Africa senior men’s coach Molefi Ntseki was named as the new man in charge of the Kaizer Chiefs on Wednesday, June 28.
Chiefs broke the news about Ntseki who is coming in to succeed Arthur Zwane (49) as the head coach of the first team.
Zwane descends from the helm into a co-assistant coaching role with Dillon Shepard (44) who was serving in that position prior. Of course, the club calls these changes “a restructuring of the technical team”.
Chiefs hired Zwane on a 3-year contract basis in May 2022. Just a season into the simmering seat, yet another dry spell in the silverware stakes claim another coach in domestic football at Naturena, south of Johannesburg, the home of Kaizer Chiefs.
Until today, the 53-year-old Ntseki was Head of Technical and Youth Development at Kaizer Chiefs. He was roped into this role after his 20 months stint at Bafana Bafana where he took over from Stuart Baxter who resigned in 2019.
Ntseki had signed a five year contract to be at the helm of the national team before SA Football Association dismissed him in March 2021.
Molefi Ntseki inherits an out-of-sort Kaizer Chiefs FC that has gone seasons without a premiership title since 2015.
Having watched the Pretoria-side Mamelodi Sundowns FC mesmerize the local league, there is little doubt that he is expected to hit the ground running and work his wonders to transform one of the well-known football brands in Africa back to, even beyond, its former glory.
To their benefit, Ntseki is a familiar broom in the domestic front and should have minute trouble adapting into his new berth. Moreover, the Premier Soccer League is on recess; this should give him room to assemble his best troops to jostle the Chiefs clout back from Sundowns and archrivals Orlando Pirates FC.