Nasreddine Nabi disputes 'chaos' description of Kaizer Chiefs' bench during victory over Stellenbosch FC - "There was a little bit confusion due to injuries that were not planned.”

Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi has denied that 'chaos' occurred on his bench during Amakhosi's 2-1 victory over Stellenbosch FC on Wednesday night at the FNB Stadium.

A delay arose when the Tunisian coach was preparing to bring on midfielder George Matlou in the later stage of the match, leading Stellies' coach Steve Barker to assert that the Soweto giants were intentionally wasting time.

However, Nabi later addressed the situation, providing reasons for the ups and downs they experienced in the dugout and expressed his astonishment upon hearing some describe the situation as chaos.

"First of all, I don’t think the word chaos is appropriate. There was confusion at the end because there were some substitutions that were not planned. I can give you an example, Mduduzi Shabalala was going to come off, George Matlou was going to come in," Nabi said, as quoted by iDiski Times. 

"As well, we were going to sub Shabalala and Wandile Duba. He went out but didn’t come back. Before, sub Shabalala, Yusuf Maart complained about cramps and George Matlou was already ready to go on the field which we had to recall.

"We had to recall the substitutes on the bench, for example, the bench even Happy [Mashiane] he wasn’t gonna come in but TT (Thatayaone Ditlhokwe) complained about the cramps," he explained. 

"Which means, the staff, everyone is gonna need to do his job – One is going to ask TT if he can still continue. The other one, he needs to prepare Happy in case TT cannot," he added. 

"The other one is going to recall the change that we had to make for Shabalala because now Yusuf Maart is not ready to continue. And that’s what happened. It was not chaos. There was a little bit of confusion due to injuries that were not planned."

During the same match, Nabi replaced striker Ashley Du Preez and left-back Bradley Cross within the first half hour of the game, but he also clarified the rationale for this difficult decision.

Pressure was rapidly escalating on the 59-year-old as he has been struggling to achieve positive results and maintain consistency, with some Chiefs fans questioning his abilities.

Nonetheless, a victory against Stellenbosch saw the Naturena-based giants climb from seventh to fifth place in the Premier Soccer League standings.

Nabi and his players will be looking to improve on their recent disappointing performances and strive for consistency in upcoming league and cup matches.

The Glamour Boys' third task in 2025 will be a home clash against the tricky Golden Arrows. The match is set to take place at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday, January 12.