Pirates coach carries on, despite rumours of his replacement
JOHANNESBURG: Kjell Jonevret doesn’t know whether he’ll still be Orlando Pirates’ head coach when the new season starts in a few weeks time.
Speculations surrounding former Ugandan head coach, Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic, being appointed as his replacement have left Jonevret wondering whether he’s staying or going.
Should Jonevret be shown the door though, the Swedish-born coach, who joined the club in the middle of last season, said he wouldn’t take the sacking personally, as it is one of those things which comes with the job of being a football coach.
“When I first arrived here my mission was to first try and save our season, “Jonevret said. “We were able to get the points we needed to get ourselves away from the relegation zone, while also making sure we worked a bit harder to reach the (Nedbank Cup) final.
“For this season,” Jonevret added. “Me and my technical team sat down and spoke about what we thought we should do to try and make this team a top side again. Even Chiefs, I believe, wants us up there alongside them as well. And that has been our focus this time around.
“But at the same time, I’ve worked in this business long enough, and I know how things work. Sometimes, they (clubs) have patience and sometimes, they do not.”
In the five months the 55-year old has being at the club, Jonevret has managed to bring in some stability, though Pirates finished outside the top eight bracket in their Premiership race, while also failing to secure their only chance of winning silverware in the Nedbank final against SuperSport United in Durban.
Pirates’ 1-0 loss in this weekend’s Carling Black Label Champion Cup against Kaizer Chiefs gave indications that the club were still under the dark cloud they played under in the past season, with their unconvincing performance in the Soweto Derby clash.
And though his future at the club hangs in the balance, the former coach of Norway’s Viking stated that he and his technical team would continue giving their very best in their respective posts at the club, until the management comes up with a final decision on his future.
“At this moment, it’s very difficult to comment about the matter,” Jonevret said of the possibility of him being sacked.
“I’ll continue being professional and get the team to work very hard every single day. If we continue giving it our all, then I believe a few pieces which have been missing will begin to fall into place, and will certainly have a far much better season in the new campaign than we had in the past one.
“If the club has found a great coach somewhere, then that decision is not up to me. I’m pretty cool about everything else and will continue giving it my very best until his last day at the club.”