Kaizer Chiefs: Why Amakhosi Need to Keep Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef Beyond This Season
- Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef have turned things around for Kaizer Chiefs this season, despite being considered not good enough
- The two managers secured a CAF Confederation Cup ticket for the Glamour Boys next season after beating Sekhukhune United in the Betway Premiership
- A football expert in a chat with Briefly News explained why the Soweto giants should consider keeping the two mentors beyond this ongoing campaign
Kaizer Chiefs have been urged to consider keeping Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef beyond the 2025-26 season despite growing suggestions from fans to let go of the two managers.
The Glamour Boys have been one of the in-form teams in the Premier Soccer League after getting good results against Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.
Amakhosi secured a place in the CAF Confederation Cup after beating Sekhukhune United on Sunday, May 10, 2026. The win means they would finish with more than 50 points for the first time since the past six seasons.
Why Chiefs should keep Kaze and Youssef
Football analyst Uche Anuma, in an exclusive interview with Briefly News, explained why Kaizer Chiefs should keep Kaze and Ben Youssef.
"I was part of the people who suggested that Ben Youssef and Kaze should be sacked at the end of the season, but they've both proved me wrong, and deserved to stay, but not as head coaches though," he said.
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"They've understood the team and can help the new coach next season if they are retained as assistant coaches for next season.
"They were once assistant coaches under Nasreddine Nabi, and they can reoccupy that same position under the guidance of another tactically sound manager next season, though it might be difficult for them to agree to the role after tasting the power to be the lead coaches."
How Kaze and Youssef started, what's next
Kaze and Ben Youssef came alongside Nasreddine Nabi at the start of the 2024-25 season, and they went on to lead the team to Nedbank Cup glory after beating Orlando Pirates in the final.
The win over the Buccaneers in the cup competition final ended the club's 10-year wait for a title, and thus they booked a place in this season's CAF Confederation Cup competition.
Nabi started the 2025-26 season as the head coach with Kaze and Ben Youssef continuing as his assistants, but the Tunisian gaffer parted ways with the club in September 2025. Many expected the club to bring in a new coach, but they stuck with the duo as named them as co-coaches, until the rest of the season.
The two coaches started their tenure on a good note, but they stumbled at the start of the second half of the season, which led to being knocked out of all cup competitions and also in the Betway Premiership title race.
The poor run of form then led to fans and other pundits calling for their sack, but the club decided to stick with them, and they eventually turned things around by securing third place on the log and continental football next season.
What's next for the two coaches is if they can be retained by the club or they are going to take their coaching job elsewhere, with one of them already being linked with Yanga SC.
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.
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Source: Briefly News
