Josef Zinnbauer
The Orlando Pirates coach has received mixed reviews this campaign, so where does he need to improve if he is to stay on?
German coach Josef Zinnbauer’s first full season in charge at Orlando Pirates has delivered a trophy following a six-year wait but failure to perform in the league has left fans with many questions. With the signings that the club made at the beginning of the season, the belief is that the 51-year-old coach was provided with all the resources he needed to challenge Mamelodi Sundowns, but failed to live up to expectations. KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo investigates what went wrong.
As has become the norm at Orlando Pirates through the years, their head coach Josef Zinnbauer will come under severe scrutiny when the curtain closes on his first full season in charge.
The Buccaneers won a trophy, the MTN8, this season after a six-year drought but there have already been widespread suggestions that Zinnbauer was not the mastermind behind this success story. Strange, but such is the situation at Pirates.
It is perceived in some quarters that the technical team powers are actually bestowed on individuals that don’t take a seat in the dugout on match day, but direct instructions from the comfort of the suites.
This perception at Pirates, whether it’s true or not, has existed longer than any coach who has worked at the club through the recent years.
Whether Zinnbauer took the job knowing of these dynamics or was unaware is secondary.
Swedish gaffer Kjell Jonevret has been the only one brave enough to talk about his experiences at Pirates after his brief spell in the second half of the 2016/17 season.
“The working conditions are very special in the club,” Jonevret was quoted saying after his departure in August 2017.
The report card for Zinnbauer this term will show that the club ended a long wait for silverware and got past the group stages of the CAF Confederation Cup.
A quarter-final exit in the Nedbank Cup, at the hands of Mamelodi Sundowns, wasn’t disastrous considering there was already knockout cup in the bag.
What will leave him having to go into a detailed explanation is matters related to the league.
The fact is that Pirates were disappointing in their failure to provide Sundowns with a stern challenge in the league, given that they had assembled what was a squad carrying its weight in quality.
‘At Pirates we need trophies’
Thulani Hlatshwayo, Deon Hotto, Wayde Jooste, Terrence Dzvukamanja, Thabang Monare and Richard Ofori were all signings that brought experience and quality as they sought to be domestic champions.
“I have not been to their training and have only seen the team on match days and I cannot judge the coach based on that,” says club legend Williams Okpara in his assessment.