Bucs boss confident of picking up where he left off at end of 2019

Just after winning his first game in charge of Orlando Pirates last year, coach Josef Zinnbauer felt he could just continue preparing his side for the next game, but unfortunately the Premier Soccer League was heading into the Christmas break.

Zinnbauer, pictured, sauntered into his new role as the Bucs head coach with a convincing 3-1 victory against Black Leopards at the Orlando Stadium on December 21.

“For me, the break is not good. I’m ready to work, I can work tomorrow.

“It’s better if we work in the next days with the team, (the break) is not good for me,” said the Buccaneers coach after their final game of the year against Leopards.

The Bucs mentor spoke with confidence after the match and especially the fact he managed to register his first win in his first game with the club.

He should be high in confidence this time around with the Soweto giants kickstarting the new year with an away encounter against Bloemfontein Celtic at the Dr Molemela Stadium today.

Plus, to his advantage now, the German must have had enough time to thoroughly look at his charges and knows his team very well at the moment.

However, coming up against Celtic will be very difficult for Zinnbauer, with the Buccaneers having found it very difficult to beat the Free State outfit.

In their last two meetings, the teams played to a 1-1 draw, while the other game saw Celtic getting a 1-0 win at home.

But having finished on a good note and starting with a clean slate, the Buccaneers under Zinnbauer will probably go into this match having forgotten about their past results against Celtic.

Looking into both sides form before the end of last year, Celtic lost two of their last three games, while winning one. Pirates, meanwhile, have managed to record two wins while playing to a draw in their other game.

Bucs will head into this encounter having recorded a total of 20 points from 14 games, which placed them handily in fifth position.

Celtic head into the match in ninth position and are currently standing on 17 points heading into the second phase of the 2019/2020 season.