Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro admits he wasn’t in the least bit bothered by being called a “plumber” after leading the club to a second domestic cup final in his debut season.
Riveiro was announced as the new Pirates head coach with mixed reception as he was a relatively unknown figure to the general public of South African football.
With lesser-known coaches and those who have no little being dubbed ‘plumbers’ in the local football fraternity and general for banter purposes, the labels in the mainstream media caused quite a stir with less thorough research actually taking place.
But the Spaniard who is now on course for two trophies in his first season with the Buccaneers says he always backed himself to succeed at the club.
“Absolutely [I thought I’d do well], I’m a very optimistic guy, very positive, even though I don’t look so at times,” Riveiro said in the post-match press conference.
“I promise you, I always think everything is going to be all right, I swear. So in sport you need to have that mentality in my opinion, wherever you are you have to approach your life and your profession with that mentality and make sure that you compete and convince those around you that everything is possible.
“It goes without saying, otherwise, what kind of leader am I? And then I’m coaching Orlando Pirates – with all the respect for everyone else… so it’s possible [to do well], because I have fantastic material and a lot of quality.
“I can’t make miracles, it’s not about me, it’s about the whole team, the coaching staff, the players… I know it’s a topic, but it’s the truth.
“I’m happy today but I promise you, I will be happy in three weeks, much happier if we’re champions, otherwise, it’s nice to be in the finals, Pirates should be regularly in every final so I’m not doing something exceptional.
“We have to go to the final with all our capacity and concentration and do everything in order to get it and let’s see what happens there.”
Source Link Riveiro On Expectations At Pirates After Being Called a ‘Plumber’
