Sekhukhune United coach Cédric Kaze says he has made a seamless transition back into head coaching, though he is still familiarising himself with being at a new club.
Kaze took over the reins at Sekhukhune during the ongoing transfer window following a spell at Kaizer Chiefs, where he arrived as an assistant to Nasreddine Nabi before finishing his tenure as Khalil Ben Youssef’s co-coach.
Before arriving at Chiefs, the Burundian tactician had assembled a decorated resume. This includes two and a half years at the FC Barcelona Academy, as well as head coaching roles in Burundian, Rwandan, and Tanzanian domestic football.
“It’s not the first time. I have been a head coach for a number of years before,” replied Kaze, when asked about the various coaching roles he has held in the PSL since arriving two years ago.
“It’s nothing new for me. It’s been a good transition into the new team, setup, and environment with new management.
“I am learning on the task. As a coach, you learn every day, including from the people you work with.”
Kaze could hit two birds with one stone at Sekhukhune, finding his feet while competing for silverware. The team has reached the MTN8 semi-finals, where they face Orlando Pirates over two legs, beginning with the first leg at home at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).
Asked whether he would prefer to focus on winning the MTN8 or leading the team to a higher finish than their fifth-place spot last season, Kaze remained on the fence.
“If you ask me to choose between the two, it’s like asking a parent to choose between his daughter and son. I love both,” Kaze said. “We want to compete in all competitions.
“It’s also a realistic question because you can face challenges like squad depth, which means you might struggle to compete across every front. But we want to do as much as we can to give ourselves a chance in both.”
Sekhukhune’s route to the final will not be easy. Pirates are the defending champions of the Wafa Wafa cup, having won the competition for the last four seasons in a row.
Moreover, Pirates hold a fixture advantage after the trip to Polokwane. They host Babina Noko in a midweek league clash at Orlando Amstel Arena before hosting them again in the MTN8 return leg next Saturday.
Having already faced another Soweto giant — Kaze's former employers, Chiefs, where they lost 2-0 away — Babina Noko were expected to have taken lessons from that match ahead of the Pirates encounter. However, Kaze begged to differ.
“I didn’t like that game,” Kaze said.
“I made sure the players were aware of that. I thought we played without courage; we played with the handbrake on. I didn’t recognise a team with the personality to step up and challenge their opponent.
“The response was very good against Polokwane City (where we won 2-0). I hope that on Saturday we will have a positive attitude and mindset, knowing when to press high and manage all those key moments.”