Cedric Kaze Hits Back at Former Kaizer Chiefs Coach As He Hints at Leaving the Club

• Cedric Kaze has opened up on Kaizer Chiefs' performance this season despite criticism from Amakhosi supporters
• The Burudian tactician and his fellow co-coach Khalil Ben Youssef have been under pressure due to poor performances
• Kaze also fired back at a former Kaizer Chiefs head coach who recently talked about what it means to coach Amakhosi

Kaizer Chiefs manager Cedric Kaze has backed his performance at Naturena since being at the dugout, and he insisted that the team is progressing positively under his leadership alongside co-coach Khalil Ben Youssef.

Kaze and Ben Youssef were promoted from assistant managers to co-coaches after the Glamour Boys parted ways with their former boss Nasreddine Nabi at the beginning of the season in September, 2025. They started their time on a good note despite critics asking questions about the duo's ability to lead Amakhosi.

At the start of the second half of the season, Amakhosi started well again in 2026, remaining competitive in the Betway Premiership title race and still involved in the CAF Confederation Cup, while also awaiting their participation in the Nedbank Cup.

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The bright start in 2026 soon turned sour as the Glamour Boys were knocked out of the CAF Confederation Cup in the Group Stage, losing against Stellenbosch FC in the Nedbank Cup and also losing momentum in the league title race with consecutive defeats

Kaze confident about Chiefs’ progress

Despite the recent setbacks, Kaze believes the team has already shown significant improvement compared to last season when Nabi was in charge.

The former Barcelona academy coach argues that securing a top-three finish would represent a major achievement and something not accomplished by any Chiefs coach in the past decade.

“Right now we are sitting in sixth place, and the team in third position, Sekhukhune United, is only three points ahead of us, and we still have two matches in hand,” Kaze said while speaking to reporters on Thursday.

“I’m not saying we will definitely win those games, but we will give everything. If this team ends the season in the top three, I could walk away knowing we achieved something that hasn’t been done here in the last 10 years,” he said.

Kaze takes swipe at Middendorp’s Chiefs

When reminded that Chiefs finished second during the 2019-20 season under Ernst Middendorp, Kaze appeared unimpressed with that campaign and questioned the style of play used by the team at the time.

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Middendorp had earlier commented on what it takes to coach Kaizer Chiefs while having a first hand experience on that.

“Yes, someone finished second a few years ago,” Kaze remarked. “But they scored about 22 goals from set pieces and relied heavily on long balls. If we finish in the top three playing our way, I would say we’ve done an outstanding job.”

Chiefs’ runners-up finish in the 2019-20 campaign remains their best league result since winning the Premier Soccer League title in the 2014-15 season. Their next best finish since then was third place in the 2017-18 campaign under Patrick Mabedi.

In the 2024-25 season, Kaizer Chiefs ended the Betway Premiership on a bad note as they could only gather 32 points under the guidance of Nasreddine Nabi while finishing ninth on the log.

There's been a little progress this season as the club has been able to gather 30 points out of a possible 54 points with 12 games left to play. The Glamour Boys are looking forward to pushing for top three finish in the league as they want a return to continental football next campaign.

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Ex-Amakhosi player sounds alarm over Kaizer Chiefs’ worrying form

Ex-Pirates star dreams of coaching Chiefs

Briefly News earlier reported that a former Orlando Pirates forward harbours aspirations of coaching Kaizer Chiefs in the future.

The former Bafana Bafana star also mentioned an English Premier League giant as one of the clubs he dreams of managing in the future.

Source: Briefly News