Kaizer Chiefs are missing one crucial coaching element that is still found at Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns, following suggestions by Siboniso Gaxa.
Chiefs made wholesale changes in their technical setup after they appointed Nasreddine Nabi as the head coach, who is supported by assistant coaches Khalil Ben Youssef and Cedric Kaze.
It has been a long time since Amakhosi had an all foreign coaches on the bench, with no local coach to ease the process and burden.
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During their last successful era, the Glamour Boys had club legend Doctor Khumalo as Stuart Baxter's assistant, a model they had practiced over the years, of having a local coach, who knows the culture of the club, close to a foreign head coach.
Reflecting on Baxter's successful era between 2012 and 2015 at Naturena, Gaxa has recalled how the influence and presence of Khumalo was key to their success, as he related with the players better.
"He (Khumalo) made the team gel man, he's the one who communicated well when Stuart was a bit harsh, you know sometimes coaches (are straightforward)," Gaxa said on SoccerBeat.
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"With 'Mdokies', he would calm us down and say, 'Ah, don't worry gents...' It would be tense at training but when he arrives everyone is calm.
"I remember there was a time coach Stuart was sick, he couldn't sit on the bench, so Doc had to take over, we played Sundowns and we won. Ah my guy, I remember the team talk at half-time, we had the best. We even discussed it after the match, he was truly a Chiefs legend, post his (playing) career, as a coach, he was so attached to Chiefs. He made things truly amazing," Gaxa added.
After appointing Jose Riveiro in 2022, who initially came with Sergio Almenara as his first assistant coach, Pirates also retained local coach Mandla Ncikazi.
Sundowns also after they brought on board Portuguese coaching contingent, led by head coach Miguel Cardoso, they retained Steve Komphela, as one of the assistant coaches, to preserve team dynamics and culture.
