Ngcobo stands strong amid pain of Kaizer Chiefs’ inconsistent season

Kaizer Chiefs’ Nkosingiphile Ngcobo concedes their Premier Soccer League (PSL) slump has been frustrating.

The skilful midfielder added Amakhosi’s mentality has also been challenged by losing games they are expected to win, while they seem to perform better when the odds are stacked against them.

Chiefs have lost 10 league games of 25 this season, where the arrival of Tunisian coach Nasreddine Nabi and his technical team, despite his constant stress on the 2024-2025 campaign being for rebuilding, raised hopes of more stability at long-suffering Amakhosi after nine seasons without silverware.

Amakhosi have been rooted in eighth place in the PSL for weeks and a top half finish or even a better placing than last season’s worst ever 10th are not certainties.

A lone ray of hope comes in reaching the Nedbank Cup final, where Chiefs can avoid going a decade without a trophy if they win the blockbuster Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates at Moses Mabhida Stadium on May 10.

Inconsistent Amakhosi, who have not managed to win three games in a row this season and have not had a victory in their past five league games, host Marumo Gallants in their Premiership clash at FNB Stadium on Saturday (3pm).

“This period is challenging and frustrating but I believe this is part of being at a big team such as Chiefs. We need to know how to manage situations such as this and the only way to do it is to win our games,'' Ngcobo said.

Amakhosi have lost to lowly teams such as Richards Bay FC and Lamontville Golden Arrows, among others, this season, while beating high-flying teams Sekhukhune United and Stellenbosch FC, bringing the side’s mentality into question. They upset Stellies and Mamelodi Sundowns on the way to the Nedbank final.

“You can say mentally we’ve struggled to treat the games equally but we go to every game wanting to win, with the same mentality, but sometimes we lose those games [against lowly teams] and win the ones perceived to be more difficult,” Ngcobo said.

Many have questioned the team’s quality in playing personnel. Nabi has also had his credentials questioned.

Ngcobo backed Nabi and insisted Chiefs have a competent squad.

“This squad is more than capable of challenging for top honours and I think that was evident at the start of the season, where we were unbelievable, scoring goals left, right and centre and teams knew it was difficult to beat us.

“However, we have since been struggling to maintain consistency; that’s our biggest problem.

“We’re a team and we are in this together. We will continue to fight together as a team. We have faith in our technical team, there’s no doubt about that.”