Kaizer Chiefs want to go back to the habit of winning trophies, says Nasreddine Nabi

Nasreddine Nabi is not putting all his eggs in one basket amid Kaizer Chiefs’ CAF aspirations, saying they are targeting both a top-three finish and the Nedbank Cup crown.

Chiefs want to salvage their season after missing out on the MTN8 and Carling Knockout, while they are all but out of the Premiership race.

They could achieve their aspirations by finishing in the top three in the Premiership or by winning the country’s premier football competition.

Sure, both achievements would crown off a decent first term for Nabi at the club, but, furthermore, each holds a continental ticket via the CAF Confederation Cup next season.

And so, given that Chiefs still have 10 games in the league to secure their third-place finish, it’d appear that they’d opt to secure their Confederation Cup spot via the Nedbank Cup.

After all, Chiefs are in the quarter-final of the competition in which they’ll face Stellenbosch FC at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday (6pm kick-off).

But no! Nabi wants to hit two birds with one stone by ensuring that his troops are at their best in every passing game, in order to finish in the top three and win the Nedbank Cup.

“We have to play in both sides,” acknowledged Nabi on Thursday, during his pre-match press conference ahead of the clash away to Stellies in Gqeberha.

“The difference is not big between our position (eighth) and the third-placed team in the league. There’s only three points. It’s largely in our hands.

“In the cup, we must do everything, it’s Chiefs. It shouldn’t mean that since it’s only possible to go to the CAF competitions through the Nedbank Cup. No!

“But as a big club, Chiefs, we want to go back to winning trophies, even if we are not going anywhere. We want to go back to the habit of trophies.”

Nabi is right. Chiefs need to dust off their cobwebs in their trophy cabinet, which has garnered nothing but dust for the past 10 years, and redefine their ‘Cup Kings’ tag.

Nabi is confident that ‘the process’ will soon take shape, and they’ll take the club back to where it belongs – the top of SA football.

“It’s not about confidence. The process is scientific, designed in steps. When you see where you are and what you need... it’ll be just a matter of time to get where you want to be,” he said.

“Big teams like Chiefs get in tough positions. Let’s say that they get ill, but they never die. It’s just a matter of time before they wake up.”

Nabi cried foul about the lack of quality players at his disposal. But the arrival of Thabo Cele and Makabi Lilepo has injected a huge morale-boost into the team.

As such, he believes that they are in the final touches of getting the personnel and resources that will help them to run like a well-oiled machine.

“If you see what the situation is in this moment, and what you need in the short future, and you have exactly analysed the frustration, then you’ve won half the process,” he said.

“It’s important to understand this, because you’ll think you are in the process, but you are not in the right direction, and your analysis is not correct. You will end up making the wrong decisions.

“I’ll make an example. You’ll think that you need to beef up almost all the positions, but you need to strengthen only three or four positions. And the problems are different.

“So, as the coach and the management, we analysed everything regarding where we are the team and what we need to actually go up.”

Chiefs are slightly on an upward curve heading to Gqeberha as they’ve beaten Stellenbosch in back-to-back league matches this year. But Nabi says that will count for nothing come Saturday.

“The last two results that we got against them won’t mean anything, in any capacity. We need to work, and we have started with them mentally,” Nabi said.

“They need to understand that it’s a cup game. And we understand that the team we are facing has experience in these kinds of games and cups.”