Pirates get a new coach
MOTALE: VERY WISE MOVE BY THE PIRATES CHAIRMAN Former Bucs defender believes the move will take a huge weight off Mokwena’s shoulders.
The appointment of German-born coach Josef Zinnbauer at Orlando Pirates came at the right time, with interim coach Rulani Mokwena having suffered enough backlash from the club’s supporters, says former defender Edward Motale.
Motale believes Mokwena wasn’t going to cope well for the rest of the season with the Ghosts having lost their patience with him. Mokwena was tasked with steering the Bucs ship in the right direction following the resignation of Micho Sredojevic earlier in August.
Out of 15 games at the helm, Mokwena got knocked out of three competitions – the MTN8, the Caf Champions League and the Telkom Knockout – and only got to register four wins.
“I think it was a wise move from the chairman (Irvin Khoza) to take the weight off Rulani, he was already feeling the pressure because the fans were now bothering him,” said the Pirates legend.
Mokwena will continue as interim coach until Zinnbauer is granted his work permit, but will return to his post as an assistant coach alongside Fadlu Davids. Motale also applauded this move and reckoned it was great thinking by the Pirates boss since Mokwena knows the players very well and will help the new coach familiarise himself with the squad.
“Rulani has been working with the players for a while now and that can only help the new coach. He will be able to get the message from the coach across to the players. I think he will also learn a lot from this guy in terms of the tactics, formations and all those sorts of things. We know that there is a language barrier with players and foreign coaches, so, that is where Rulani will also be helpful.”
Speaking of Zinnbauer, the German has never coached in Africa before. But, Motale believes South African football is similar to the German style with the 4-42 formation.
He thinks Zinnbauer won’t struggle to get the team going and says he will only need a bit of time to get things together. He made an example of the return of Ernst Middendorp to Kaizer Chiefs, who joined the club in the middle of the season and struggled.
“We use 4-4-2 a lot in South Africa and that is the formation that works. Germans also use it, so, I don’t think the fact that he has never coached in Africa will be a problem. He just needs a bit of time and he will get things right.
“If you remember well, Middendorp had a tough time at Chiefs last season and they ended up finishing in position nine at the end of the season. Right now things are going well for him. But I think what’s good about Zinnbauer’s situation is that we are heading into the Christmas break, so he will use that time to get to know his team.”
Motale concluded by saying that he welcomed the new coach and urged the Bucs fans to do the same and give the new coach enough time to fine-tune the team heading into the second half of the Absa Premiership season.