Vasili Hopes To Bounce Back With Pirates In His First Game In Charge

Richards Bay head coach Vasili Manousakis has admitted that it has been an emotional couple of weeks for the club coupled with bad results, but he believes they can turn the corner when they host Orlando Pirates at King Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday (15:00).

Manousakis said they are still coming to terms with the passing away of their star midfielder Sphamandla Mtolo, who tragically passed away early this month.

That was followed by another trauma of Sanele Barns, who also lost his mother and was given two weeks off to bury her.

Barns, one of the stars for Bay this season in the first half, was missed in the demotion 4-0 loss to TS Galaxy, the game that took place after also Mtolo’s burial took place a week later.

Bay was far from their best and Galaxy took full advantage of the painful situation to score four goals, to suffer what was the club’s biggest loss this season in the league.

That was the club’s sixth loss on the bounce in all competitions, stretching them to eight winless runs in all competitions since defeating bottom side Marumo Gallants in January.   

With the club coming to terms in this emotional state and results not forthcoming, club chairman Sifiso Biyela reshuffled things a bit in the technical area, appointing Manousakis to be the head coach from the co-coaching role and Pitso Dladla dropping to be the assistant coach.

This will be Manousakis’ first match in charge of the club since he was handed the post over 11 days ago by the Natal Rich Boyz.

“Five losses in the row, the mood in terms of confidence is low,” said Manousakis, who this is the first time he has been handed a head coaching role.     

“But certainly we have had our challenges, mentally and emotionally, it’s a very tough period for the team, for the squad, for the club. But we are confident that we will bounce back. The boys are working hard as ever before and we are getting some key long-term injuries back.”

As Bay has failed to win in the last eight games, Manousakis says they will have to turn the corner because mathematically they are not out of the relegation zone yet.

“We know the task at hand,” he added.

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“Yes, it is a huge challenge against Pirates, but we believe we can get something out of the game and hopefully that gives us the confidence to turn the corner for the last seven games running.

“Hopefully that will set up for a decent finish. So let’s see what happens on Saturday.”