With so many talented youngsters at Kaizer Chiefs, former coach Stuart Baxter would have managed them differently after he revealed the come up of Teboho Mokoena.
After Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi was hailed for being brave early in the season, to thrust youngsters such as Mduduzi Shabalala, Wandile Duba, Samkelo Zwane and Mfundo Vilakazi into the rigors of the first team.
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The Tunisian mentor was, however, criticized for playing too many of the young blood at once in the starting line-up, after a 4-0 humiliation by Mamelodi Sundowns in the Carling Knockout semi-finals.
Normally, coaches prefer to introduce youngsters gradually into the team, not putting them under pressure as Baxter revealed how they grounded Mokoena as a young player at SuperSport United, before he could eventually become a regular.
"You cannot really tell youngsters are going to be successful or not. We thought 'Tebza' was going to be a top player but you can't be certain. But when Tebza came through, I had a conversation with Stan Matthews [SuperSport CEO], that, 'We've got to deal with these young players properly'," Baxter said in an interview on Mike Morton Talks Football YouTube Channel.
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"Because you don't just throw young players in, they sink or swim, some sink, some swim. Tebza trained with Yeye [Reneilwe Letsholonyane], Dean [Furman], yourself [Michael Morton], all these top players, he learned from them and then sat on the bench. Then he came in for ten minutes, then come in for a half [45 minutes], play a friendly and start.
"Then when Yeye or Dean got injured, or yellow cards, he plays instead of [either of them]. He was learning. That humility you demand from him at that time, you go to him and say he should be on the bench [when regulars returned], Tebza understood that. He had the right mental make up, technical and tactical make up, he went through the right path. We didn't just throw him and said, 'Here you go'," the former Matsatsantsa mentor revealed.
After a 4-0 defeat to Sundowns in the Carling Knockout, Nabi suggested that it was a big lesson to his young players and it remains to be seen if he will stay committed to them, as the Soweto giants will be under pressure to produce results when the league resumes.
