Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi (left) puts his hand on the Carling Knockout Cup trophy while SuperSport United mentor Gavin Hunt looks on in Johannesburg yesterday. Photo: BackpagePix
NASREDDINE Nabi exchanged a firm handshake with Gavin Hunt and then took an admiring look at the displayed Carling Knockout Cup trophy before rubbing it gently with his hands – his gaze fixed on it.
There was no missing the desire the Kaizer Chiefs coach had of delivering that piece of silverware to Naturena.
After all, that is what he has been brought to Amakhosi for – to ensure the club avoids going a full decade without winning proper silverware.
It's a mammoth task for the Tunisian, who failed to deliver a trophy for his previous club FAR Rabat.
But Chiefs hired him on the strength of his success with Tanzania’s Young Africans, whom he led to successive championship titles.
And Nabi is going to have to dig deep and rekindle that magic dust he sprayed all over ‘Yanga’ if he is to bring back the glory days to Chiefs.
There are already signs he will turn things around, with the club having been impressive in their initial matches of the season.
The opening round of the Carling Knockout against SuperSport United on Saturday (8pm kick-off) at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane will go a long way towards showing if Nabi can end the uncharacteristic trophy drought Chiefs have endured in the last nine seasons.
He admits that Hunt’s team will provide them with a proper test.
“I am expecting a very challenging game. Speaking sincerely, SuperSport is a very good team,” Nabi said during the press conference in Johannesburg on Thursday.
“I watched them during their MTN8 game against Orlando Pirates, and they almost won that game. They had the possibility to win, except for the refereeing mistake (because) they had a penalty that was not given to them.”
A pity Hunt had already left to hear what would have been a sweet melody to his ears.
The SuperSport coach had – during his address – enjoyed hearing a journalist refer to the many times Matsatsantsa have been let down by officiating.
Nabi believes SuperSport will come hard at the Amakhosi. “They are a very aggressive and very committed and technically organised team, with my colleague (Hunt) giving lots of schemes and he has lots of experience.
“He knows how to manage and prepare his players. We are expecting a good and challenging game. We will see what happens.”
He, however, knows what the Chiefs fans and his bosses want – the trophy. And that means victory on Saturday in Polokwane.
Of course, Nabi is in the process of rebuilding a Chiefs side that had become so accustomed to mediocrity and failure in recent seasons that the mentality was threatening to slip down to the development ranks and destroy young hopeful talent.
But the Tunisian knows that cannot be an excuse for not succeeding.
“The process of building the team does not stop us from having a winning mentality,” Nabi said.
“We will take it game by game with a winning mentality, whether it is in the cup or the championship itself. We don’t want to hide behind the fact that we are building and say the result is secondary.
“So, what is sure I am promising the fans that all the games, regardless of what they mean, we will do our best to give good results.”
You saw by the way he looked and handled that trophy that Nabi would love nothing more than to win it.