Orlando Pirates chairman Dr. Irvin Khoza has opened up on the club’s search for a new head coach and slammed comments of calling new coach Jose Riveiro a “plumber”.
The Buccaneers appointed the Spaniard last month after being impressed with his exploits in Finland, where the 46-year-old made a name for himself despite not lifting any silverware.
However, the appointment was met with a social media storm and severe backlash from the club’s fans, journalists and analysts.
Khoza has now commented on the coaching search, explaining he himself was not involved but the club followed a “rigorous process”, insisting other successful Bucs coaches also arrived at the club without silverware.
“It was a thorough search,” Khoza told Daniel Mothwagae of City Press.
“It’s quite interesting that [when] you look at the coaches we have in respective teams at the moment, they won nothing but nobody says anything [about them].
“We had Ruud Krol who was an international player and he won nothing [in his first two seasons from 2008, but] won a treble with us [in the final year of his contract in 2011]. [Júlio] Leal, same thing – he didn’t win anything [between 2011 and 2012].
“So, I cannot justify our selection. We have done our best as a club through the [coach’s search] process.
“We tried with the combo we had – Mandla Ncikazi and Fadlu Davids – unfortunately, Fadlu said he wanted [to leave for] greener pastures.
“We thought it’s very important to do justice [to the technical team by bringing in a new coach], to give some kind of tonic. We have quality players in the team. Maybe it’s a question of seeing things differently, coaches see things differently.
“We have identified his fit [into the team]. We realised that he can make a difference. [That’s from] what we have seen, he has produced in the team he was coaching.
“He [Screamer Shabalala] was not involved, not even myself. We’ve got a structure at the club [to do that work].”
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Who Is Jose Riveiro?
However, Khoza was upset with comments, calling Riveiro a “plumber”.
“This country is gonna be in trouble because we take things for granted. We must do introspection,” he added.
“People can’t make meaningful contributions in debates … that’s the problem we are suffering from in this country. If you have an informed debate, it also helps us to see things for what they are.
“All of us can raise our voice and insult [others] because we don’t have solutions. It’s irresponsible [to do that].
“But I am also humbled because one social media activist created a Twitter space which did not take the rhetoric of people talking about a plumber [to describe our coach] – which was demeaning and insulting.”
