Khalil’s calm stewardship keeps Kaizer Chiefs flying high in Nabi’s absence

Ben Youssef Khalil wears the head coach’s cap very well. In charge of Kaizer Chiefs in the absence of incumbent Nasredinne Nabi, Khalil has led Amakhosi to an impressive start to the season – the Glamour Boys winning all three of their Betway Premiership matches without conceding a goal.

Granted, Khalil has repeatedly spoken of how Nabi – back home in Tunisia to be with his wife who was involved in a car accident – remains the man in charge and that he is in contact with them. That may well be the case, but the reality is that Khalil is leading the team now and has seen Chiefs beating all comers to sit joint top of the table with Sekhukhune United.

Their latest victory – a 1-0 defeat of Richards Bay at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday night – was once again achieved courtesy of a Khalil tactical masterstroke, his half-time substitutions turning the match in Amakhosi’s favour.

The Tunisian introduced Gaston Sirino for Siphesihle Ndlovu at the break and the Uruguayan’s impact was almost immediate, scoring what proved to be the winner just 11 minutes after entering the pitch.

Khalil – as he always does when in the hot seat – spoke with the calmness of a man sure of himself and his methods during the post-match media conference as he explained the logic behind his substitutions.

“For the first half we weren’t good. The rotation was slow. We found a lot of difficulty in the middle (of the field). At half-time we took a risk and removed Ox (Mthethwa) and Ndlovu for more technical players with character in Mshini (Nkosingiphile Ngcobo) and Sirino.”

The risk paid off, and Khalil duly gave credit to Sirino, whose attitude he feels has improved greatly from the previous season.

“I think Sirino, when we came back this season, he came back with a very good attitude and good performance. We discussed his idea; what he thinks about the season.

"He’s so excited about this season. He wants to help the team and I have to say congratulations about his attitude and how he performs in training.”

Khalil shared his delight at the impact substitutes have had in Amakhosi’s bright start to the campaign.

“Every pre-match we discuss the importance of players coming from the bench. I think now, with three games, every time the player who came off the bench gave us more solutions and they helped the team.

"We are so happy about their mentality. Some players – when they stay on the bench – they start to be angry and they are not motivated to play. But we are showing at Kaizer Chiefs that all the players coming from the bench are so hungry to help the team. They tried to help and they did very well I think.”

It was when dealing with questions about fan favourite Mfundo Vilakazi that Khalil’s calm leadership shone through. It was suggested that the tricky youngster was brought on due to the calls from the crowd.

“Even (in the) last game, the fans were asking for Vilakazi but it is the plan of the game. We try to manage our players. We know the situation; we are the coaches of Kaizer Chiefs, we decide. It is not the fans who decide,” Khalil explained, without losing his cool as Nabi often does.

“For Vilakazi, the plan was when (Wandile) Duba was tired we would use Shabalala and Sirino but we saw Shabalala in the last 15 minutes he ran a lot. It was already our plan to switch Shabalala with Vilakazi.”

Nabi, according to Khalil, will be back this week to take charge of the big clash against Mamelodi Sundowns next weekend.

Yet such has been the positive work done by Khalil that there could well be Chiefs fans who feel the second-in-command should be allowed to remain at the helm. But Khalil – despite filling the coaching shoes perfectly – will return to his position as the assistant without any qualms.