Opinion: Time for Kaizer Chiefs’ General Patrick Mabedi to lead own army

That former Kaizer Chiefs captain Patrick ‘General’ Mabedi would evolve into a coach one day was a matter of just time.

Not that he was the most talented and technically blessed centre-back at the Soweto-based side.

The Malawian just possessed rare attributes of being a consummate professional so rare in a wayward South Africa football era of problemboys such as Thabiso ‘Skapie’ Malatsi, Jabu Pule and Junior Khanye Junior.

Mabedi was an epitome of all those rare attributes in his eight-year romance with the Glamour Boys between 1998 and 2006, before he saw out his playing career at Moroka Swallows.

If his work-ethic could not rub off on Chiefs teammates then at least his loyalty always shone like a beacon.

It was, therefore, a no-brainer that Chiefs entrusted the General with the armband.

However, Mabedi has taken way too long to establish himself as a stand-alone coach; he now needs to do that.

Glimpses of what Mabedi can achieve if fully in charge of the ship were evident in South Africa’s coastal city of Durban early July 2023 when he was named the 2023 Cosafa Cup group stage best coach.

As a caretaker coach, he steadied dangerously directionless Flames ship of Malawi to dock after three straight wins—1-0 over Zambia, 2-0 over Comoros and Seychelles—to book a semifinal date with Lesotho on a clean slate.

Eventually, it took post-match penalties for Lesotho to deny Malawi a place in the final. Eventually, Bafana Bafana also needed post-match penalties to get rid of the Flames in a third-place play-off.

However, it was easy to notice the improvements in the team that is now able to ignite orgasm with its sexy one-touch attacking football, you can even watch on an empty-stomach.

The Flames settled for a fourth place finish at the end of the tournament in Durban and reaching the semifinal for the first time in 19 years was remarkable.

Building a strong team able to score six goals in five games and balance that up with three clean sheets was something unusual for the Flames who are notorious for being porous at the back and impotent upfront.

Even more telling was that Mabedi looked the other way round when confronted with the usual headache of squad selection.

Mabedi refused to be hoodwinked by Flames stars who are surviving on a diet of past glory.

The Flames interim coach fished out unknowns such as Alick Lungu, Llyod Aaron, Patrick Macheso, Robert Saizi and Lanjesi Nkhoma and threw them to the deep end.

In that respect, the former Bata Bullets sweeper ticked the boxes of brave squad selection and in restoring the attacking playing template his erstwhile boss Mario Marinica discarded.

It a was big gamble that spoke of a man who knew what he wanted to do and how he wanted to do it on the big national team stage.

Not that Mabedi had not tasted the big platform. He did as co-caretaker coaches alongside Ernest Mtawali in Namibia leading the Flames to a 1-0 win in the absence of Eddingtone Ng’onamo, who had then rushed back home to mourn the death of his son.

The now 50-year-old remained in the shadows of other Flames head coaches, the latest being Marinica.

In between the Flames duties, he tried to carve out his own coaching niche starting off in an interim role at Swallows then as Mpumalanga Black Aces assistant to Muhsin Ertugral in 2015. The pair had worked together at Chiefs when Ertugral was in charge.

The man from Thyolo District had a chance to work with Ertugral again at Orlando Pirates but declined the tempting offer out of loyalty for the black and gold of Chiefs.

Mabedi finally took charge of his own mantle at Cape Town All Stars where he served as head coach in the second tier league.

Only for that irresistible call from Chiefs to come again with an offer to serve as Steve Komphela’s deputy in 2017 then work with Giovanni Solinas a year later.

“I am happy to be back home,” said Mabedi. “I look forward to making a contribution to the success of this great institution. This is a privilege. I wish to thank the Club Management for this opportunity,” he told Chiefs website on June 13 2017.

With Solinas getting the sack, Black Leopards hired Mabedi to work under Lionel Soccoia, but the inevitable happened the duo were dumped in 2019.

A return to Malawi followed with an offer to serve as Malawi under-20 coach leading the Junior Flames to a lukewarm performance at the Cosafa Championship in 2021.

Marinica roped Mabedi on board to serve as among the assistant coaches before taking over in May when the Romanian left.

Since that time, Mabedi remains undefeated in open play now in seven games; a huge promise that could earn him the permanent role when his temporary contract with the Flames runs its course in September 2023.

Whether Mabedi gets the Flames fulltime job or not, one thing is clear: he can no longer continue serving as a mere lieutenant but a full General for his own army. You can't serve as an assistant for 10 years. Certainly not when you are aged 50.