Zinnbauer sounding like a stuck record

Just as Orlando Pirates coach, Josef Zinnbauer had said it a few days earlier, I got to witness how petty supporters can be last Saturday.

Okay, let me start from the begining so you can understand what I’m trying to tell you here.

In the build-up to the derby, Zinnbauer was asked about the calls from some of Pirates fans who wanted him out and he hit the nail right on the head.

“I understand the supporters... they always have different views. You meet one, and he says ‘hey, you are a good coach. We didn’t have a cup for six years now we have one and then another comes and ‘we want more, we want more’.

“But we see football differently and the problem is that the supporters now want us to win all the time. You win three games in a row and you are the best coach ever, but lose a game and you are the worst (and should be fired),” said Zinnbauer.

In a way, I knew this long ago but the German mentor just provided better perspective.

I got to experience it last weekend after the derby.

I was invited by Ukhozi FM to be a guest analyst for the Sundowns-Chippa game but we got so many requests from the listeners to also offer our analysis on the derby.

And when the fans got a chance to also voice their opinions, one after the other, most said Gavin Hunt has done enough damage to the Kaizer Chiefs brand and should now vacate his position.

So unappreciative – Just a week ago, Hunt was the best thing since the advent of cellphones but suddenly, after losing one game... yes, one game, he is a bad coach who should be kicked to the curb.

But it’s the nature of the game, a game of opinions and that’s why we love it – the beautiful game.

And speaking of Zinnbauer – or “ZimDollar” as a friend likes calling him – he seems to have lost it at Pirates. I don’t know what, but something’s amiss in that team.

I am not saying this now that they were embarrassed by Abafana Bes’thende, but it’s something I noted about four or five weeks ago.

When I watch his post-match interviews, he doesn’t inspire confidence or someone who has the answers to the problems in the team.

The team’s main problem is goal-scoring, yet he plays the same system that fails him in every game.

I would have thought that after going four games without a win after dominating, he would change strategy.

I don’t know whether he changed the system against Chiefs or it happened by chance, but they won.

Maybe he needs to go into each game thinking they are the underdogs, like he did with Chiefs.

I understand almost all his strikers are on the injury list, but surely as an experienced coach he should be able to find other ways to get goals rather than sounding like a broken record after each game as he decries missed chances.

He has already lost the supporters, but I hope he hasn’t lost the change room as well.