NO HINT AS KHOZA UNVEILS NEW COACH
Incoming Bucs man has a lot of issues to fix
WHETHER it’s Benni McCarthy or Shakes Mashaba, or some littleknown Belgian named Ronny van Geneugden, all eyes will be on Orlando Pirates chairman Irvin Khoza to unveil the club’s new coach today.
The date is at least what Khoza had promised the Pirates faithful in the aftermath of Bucs’ 6-0 demolition by Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld Stadium a fortnight ago.
In fact, the mysterious incoming coach has left even caretaker coach Augusto Palacios equally clueless on who is going to permanently fill the position left vacant by Muhsin Ertural in November.
The appointment of a new coach will nonetheless relieve a lot of stress on Palacios, whose health has come into question recently.
After Pirates scored a late goal through Riyaad Norodien to earn a 2-2 draw at Cape Town City on Saturday night, Palacios literally held his hand against his heart – to check if everything was okay.
By his own admission, it was a roller-coaster moment, which is why his heart rate was racing.
After the Buccaneers took the lead through January signing Dove Wome, the visitors found themselves trailing when Roland Putsche and in-form Lebogang Manyama got on the score sheet.
But substitute Norodien stepped up with his first Pirates goal in his home town to earn a valuable point for the struggling Soweto giants.
“It’s the heart pressure, coming from stress. I have this after the Sundowns game,” said Palacios in a post-match interview.
“I don’t know who is coming in. I always die for the club, no matter which position I’m in, no matter who is coming, I will wear black and white all the time until I die.”
The new Bucs coach will be under pressure from the word go, to sort out the many problems facing Pirates.
He has to work on the team’s porous defence, discipline on the pitch, their lack of creativity and their inability to convert chances.
City coach, Eric Tinkler, bemoaned the result.
Had they won the match, City would have been top of the table.
“The players feel as though this was a loss and that is what you want them to feel.
“We should have collected the three points,” said Tinkler, who also coached the Buccaneers.