‘It didn’t make sense,’ says Zwane of first season as Chiefs coach

There has been plenty of speculation that Arthur Zwane will not be Kaizer Chiefs head coach next season, but the man himself is still very much talking as if he will.

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“I’m a coach who is ambitious, who wants to win games. The first thing as a coach, you want to win the league. You want to win silverware,” said Zwane on a recent episode of Kaizer Chiefs TV.

“You want to see players improving, you want to see players going to the national team, you want to see players going overseas. 

“And you want the team campaigning in the Caf Champions League in the future.”

When Zwane was appointed as permanent head coach at the start of last season, there were mixed reactions, though most were positive.

Zwane, a former player and assistant coach at the club, described the appointment as a dream come true. However, he admitted that the season ended on a disappointing note, despite a promising start.

Zwane decries injuries

Reflecting on the team’s performance, Zwane acknowledged that inconsistency and fluctuating results were key issues. He, as he had done the whole season, attributed these challenges to a series of injuries that plagued the squad.

“We wanted to make sure that the project succeeds. We ended the season on a very low note after we had started well,” added Zwane.

“It was just that things were not consistent. The fluctuation of results also unsettled us,”

Zwane recalled a particular incident in which two players collided with each other, resulting in the loss of both individuals. Such occurrences, he noted, were frustrating and made little sense. 

“To sum it all up, I would say injuries hindered our progress this past season and unfortunately it’s something we couldn’t control, we couldn’t control injuries.

“Football is a contact sport and anything can happen. I’ve never seen so many injuries in one season. We lost two players at some point, who collided with each other – it just didn’t make sense.”

Future not guaranteed, but Zwane remains ambitious

Despite Zwane’s ambitions, uncertainty surrounds his future as the head coach of Chiefs. Reports suggest that the club’s leadership has been in talks with other potential candidates, including former Young Africans SC coach Nasreddine Nabi. 

While the situation remains unclear, Zwane remains focused on his duties and determined to overcome the challenges that lie ahead.

Chiefs’ players returned for pre-season training last week.