Football

Kaizer Chiefs Slammed for Massive Blunder Ahead of Soweto Derby Against Orlando Pirates

Published 22 Feb 2026 at 8:25 AM

by Raphael Abiola

3 min read

Kaizer Chiefs have been slammed for making a massive blunder as they prepare to face Orlando Pirates in the Betway Premiership
The Soweto giants have suffered back-to-back eliminations from the Nedbank Cup and the CAF Confederation in the past few weeks
The Glamour Boys are heading into finishing the 2025-26 season trophyless, as they are only left with competition for the league title

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Kaizer Chiefs have been called out by one of their former players as they prepare for the Soweto derby showdown against Orlando Pirates at the FNB Stadium on Saturday, 28 February 2026.

Within just one week, the Glamour Boys have been knocked out of both the Nedbank Cup and the CAF Confederation Cup. They failed to defend the Nedbank Cup title after winning it last season, and their defeat against Zamalek in their last group game eliminated them from the continental football.

The recent setback was a major disappointment for players, fans, management, and everyone connected to the club, especially considering the impressive form they had displayed leading up to the back-to-back defeats.

Ex-Chiefs star criticises Amakhosi's decision

Former Chiefs defender Lifa Gqosha criticised the club’s decision to allow Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef to share coaching duties following the dismissal of Nasreddine Nabi. He argued that one coach should have assumed full control rather than having joint responsibility.

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The Amakhosi legend is not happy with his former employee as they are preparing to face Orlando Pirates in the first Soweto derby of the season.

On where the Motaungs misstepped, Gqosha told Sowetan:

“Looking at their results beforehand, the choice seemed justified. But now the problem is that neither coach is fully accountable. When you have two people in charge, they might disagree, and each could blame the other. They bring different philosophies to the team, and it’s unclear which approach is applied during matches. Management should have been decisive and assigned responsibility to a single individual. In my opinion, it was the wrong move.”

Gqosha predicts a trophyless season for Chiefs

Gqosha predicts that Kaizer Chiefs may finish the season without a trophy as he does not see them winning the Betway Premiership ahead of Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates.

He predicted that the Glamour Boys are expected to finish among the top eight, a position they couldn't achieve under Nabi last season.

“I don’t see them winning the league, but they should end up within the top eight, which would still be an improvement over last season. They shouldn’t keep switching coaches mid-season. At this point, they should be planning to bring in an experienced coach for the next campaign,” he concluded.

Why Chiefs shouldn't have been awarded penalty

Briefly News also reported that a football expert explained why Kaizer Chiefs shouldn't have been awarded a penalty during their victory over Al Masry in the CAF Confederation Cup.