Pirates chart adifferent course
Orlando Pirates fans may have been expecting a so-called ‘big-name’to take charge of the side for the 2022/23 season with the likes of Pitso Mosimane, Gavin Hunt and Benni McCarthy all free agents as they desperately seek to close the gap on Mamelodi Sundowns.
The club had decided to replace the co-coaching duo of Mandla Ncikazi and Fadlu Davids at the end of a 2021/22 season that included a place in the final of the CAF Confederation Cup, but was characterised by poor domestic form.
It was then not surprising that Davids left, seemingly of his own accord, and while Ncikazi has stayed, he will be assistant to the new man at the helm of The Buccaneers, Spanish coach Jose Riveiro.
It is probably fair to say that any coaching appointment is a gamble, even with the best intentions you never really know how things are going to work out.
But the hiring of Riveiro pits a relatively young coach into a first ever job on the African continent, and only his second ever head coach role. At a club of the size of Pirates, where expectations remain high despite years of underachievement, that seems like a roll of the dice.
Having said that, Pirates have been quite clear on why
