Not for the faint-hearted!

They often say coaching is a thankless job where signing your contract is as good as signing your resignation letter. Spare a thought for any man, foreign or local, who takes the brave step of accepting the task as Orlando Pirates head coach – on the evidence of it, it is an incredibly tough assignment, very emotionally taxing due to the demands from both management and the supporters. The latter can certainly make life quite difficult for a coach, especially if results aren’t coming, something Gordon Igesund alluded to in his Gordon’s Untold Stories column, recalling an incident from the 2000/01 season. “Two days after our (Bob Save Super Bowl) cup exit, I was busy preparing for training when a taxi full of supporters pulled up to the training grounds and charged straight towards me. I was brutally beaten before a number of players came to my rescue and placed themselves between me and my attackers. To say I was shaken would be an understatement, we were five points clear with three games to play and still very much on course to lift the league title. I was in complete shock and couldn’t understand how this was happening. It was a frightening position to be in,” he shared.

There’s no such a thing as ‘winning ugly’ at the Soweto giants… the supporters demand beautiful football, which is why Igesund had to leave even after winning a league title. Crazy! Add to the mix the well-documented, but never really openly spoken about issues about so-called ‘interference’ from certain sections within the club, as even Thulasizwe Mbuyane confirmed in last week’s Revolving Column, then you have a situation of the coach always living on borrowed time. And when they finally pack it in, the frustration is almost tangible. Among others, Julio Leal quit because he could not ‘see the way forward’, Muhsin Ertugral resigned on live television, both Milutin Sredojevic and Josef Zinnbauer dumped the team at the most inconvenient of times. Kjell Jonevret also resigned and later told Swedish media, “It was difficult to make my voice heard. It’s a big club with very many who want to be involved and make decisions. The political aspect is extraordinary in the club. You want so much to help, but you really cannot. I felt I could not continue as it was and felt it was best I leave. So, I quit.” A mouthful!