Ex-Kaizer Chiefs player questions Nasreddine Nabi's style at Amakhosi - 'Culture has been lost! I don't think Thabo Cele plays for coach who believes in ball-playing players'

Nasreddine Nabi was appointed Kaizer Chiefs coach at the beginning of the ongoing campaign amid much fanfare and expectation.

In his bid to stamp authority on the Glamour Boys, the Tunisian has so far signed 10 players in different departments.

Among those who have made an immediate impact are Inacio Miguel, Rushwin Dortley, Gaston Sirino, Thabo Cele, and Glody Lilepo.

Among the new signings who are doing well is Cele who was surprisingly left out of the Bafana Bafana squad for the March 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin scheduled for 21st and 25th respectively.

He was named the Man-of-the-Match last weekend as Kaizer Chiefs beat Stellenbosch in the Nedbank Cup quarter-final.

The midfielder was again solid in the goalless draw with Cape Town City on Wednesday night.

However, former Chiefs attacker Junior Khanye is not convinced with Nasreddine Nabi's style of coaching, and wonders why neither Cele, nor any of his teammates, did not make the Bafana squad.

“For me, [Cele] has fitted in like a glove although I am concerned about the players around him. There is no doubt that the boy is a good player and was properly developed," he told SNL24.

“But we have seen players join Chiefs before while on top of their game, but they failed to deliver according to the expectations. It depends on who is coaching these players. In my opinion, Chiefs get it wrong with the appointment of coaches, because most of the time the coaches they have had fail to make the best out of the players signed by the club. The culture of the team has been lost.

"All in all, Thabo Cele has fitted in well at Chiefs and is doing well, but unfortunately, I don’t think he is playing under a coach who believes in ball-playing players in [Nasreddine] Nabi. For me, Cele should at least make the preliminary squad for Bafana Bafana [for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers],” Khanye concluded.

Chiefs are already in the Nedbank Cup semi-final where they will play either Sekhukhune United or Mamelodi Sundowns.

Cele and his teammates have a chance to go down in history books as the squad that ended a decade-long trophyless run.

They might also convince Broos to have a couple of them in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals squad.