Raja Sack Coach, Ex-Pirates Boss Secured As Successor

Raja Athletic Club has parted ways with head coach Mondher Kebaier and have appointed former Orlando Pirates boss Josef Zinnbauer as his replacement.

Kebaier had been in charge of Raja this season after replacing Foauzi Benzarti during a turbulent campaign where they find themselves in sixth place and the only chance of silverware being the Throne Cup, where they face Wydad in the semi-finals and the Arab Cup – where they are in the group stages of the competition.

It marked the end of the club President Aziz El Badraoui and Mohamed Boudrika returned with the promise to restore the club back to its glory days, where he oversaw a domestic double during his previous stint.

Yannick Ferrera was the first to be approached and after the offer was rejected Zinnbauer emerged as the next potential candidate, despite their reservations about not being able to speak French or Arabic.

However, after sacking Kebaier on Thursday for breach of contract, due be absent for the past nine days from training without an adequate reason, the German tactician appears favorites, with talks said to be at an advanced stage.

Richards Bay also approached the former Buccaneers tactician, who had a short stint in the Russian Premier League after resigning from his role at Pirates.

While Zinnbauer agreed a deal in principle to return to the DStv Premiership ahead of next season, the late approach from the Botola Pro giants threw a spanner in the works and iDiski Times sources confirm he arrived on Wednesday to finalise the deal and is set to be unveiled imminently.