One can vividly remember when Orlando Pirates announced Coach Jose Riveiro as the next man to take charge of the mighty Buccaneers, two seasons ago. The announcement was met with mixed reactions. Mostly, in typical South African football supporters' fashion, the Spanish mentor was deemed a plumber even before he started his very first training session for the Buccaneers.
There were a couple of nicknames bandied about to describe and welcome this unfamiliar face to our beautiful country. The fact that he didn't have a 10-page CV in his coaching journey didn't really help his cause either. "Here we are with yet another plumber, gracing our shores to coach one of the biggest teams on the continent when he's an unknown even in his own native country," remarked some of our readers and football supporters, at the time. The difference, that time around was that this one, unlike many others, comes from Spain – a country known to play similar football to what we are used to. The fact that he shares the same first name as Jose Mourinho, coupled with his origins from Spain, made things even worse for the young but unknown coach. He had just joined a Pirates team that needed a serious cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), as they – together with their Soweto arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs – were going through a silver- ware drought. So much was expected from the coach that he was dismissed even before taking to the field to show what he was made of, sim- ply because everyone expected Bucs to 'break the bank' and bring a big-name and reputable coach with a rich history of winning trophies if they were to turn their fortunes around.
Ladies and gentlemen, so many people have been left to devour a humble pie because, once again, the Pirates management – headed by Dr. Irvin Khoza – proved that they know what they're doing. Not many coaches have come to South African football with such little reputation, only to shake our football the way the 48-year-old has done. This man didn't ask for anyone's patience or plead for time to get to know his team and adapt to the DStv Premier- ship. In fact, he didn't even get to prepare for his first pre-season camp as he jumped into a moving train. It didn't take long for him to appease the Bucs faithful, as he grabbed the first piece of silverware he was involved in, the MTN8. He went on to win the Nedbank Cup as well as push Pirates to the second spot on 54 points behind Mamelodi Sundowns' 70. The Brazilians had won the league title five times on the trot before coach Riveiro's arrival. After annexing the MTN8, it was easy for the doubting Thomases to dismiss it as just a 'pre-season tournament' and say that the mentor would have to do more to prove his worth. Finishing second to Sundowns and playing some entertaining football earned coach Riveiro the sup- porters' respect. As if that was not enough to make a name for himself and prove the nay- sayers wrong, coach Riveiro defended his two titles and his runner-up position albeit with a massive 23-point-difference.
The 'Spanish guitar' brings a breath of fresh air to our football. His humility, calm de- meaner, tactical acumen and management style are enough proof to show that he knows what he is doing. The man is "cooking" something for the Soweto giants and he looks to be on the right track. He's also proved, beyond any reasonable doubt, that he may have come here as an unknown but he is certainly not a plumber. All these characteristics wouldn't allow him to take offence at being perceived as a plumber. If anything, it looks like the tag has propelled him to dispel the notion, with his performances rather than speaking up for himself. Today, al- most everyone gives rave reviews on the coach's performances and how he awakened Bucs and transformed them into one of the best teams in the league. Everyone talks of just how competitive and promising this Bucs team looks under their current coach. In the eyes of the neutrals, Riveiro and his charges look to be the only team with a realistic chance of unseating the Brazilians from the throne. This all happened in just two seasons at the helm! Due to his good form, the stakes have since been set higher with an overall expectation of Pirates making a strong case for themselves with a strong challenge for the league honours next campaign.
In fact, finishing lower than the top spot
will not prove enough for coach Riveiro next season. He's bought himself enough time with the progress he's made so far, as mentioned, by finishing second twice and defending his league double. What will appease the Bucs supporters will be the league title which, they last tasted at the end of 2011/12 season, on the back of their successful double-treble de- fence. This will be an enormous task for the Spanish mentor, considering how dominant Sundowns have been in recent years. Can you blame Bucs supporters for demanding league honours, based on the team's recent form and knowing what they are capable of? When you look at the log standings, you will notice that there is a massive 23-point-gap separating Sundowns from Pirates. This paints an ugly picture, as it is not a true reflection of how the season panned out in terms of the competition between the two teams. Having said that, we all know that in football – just as the case in life in general – you always get what you deserve. You can't overlook Sundowns' experience and know-how when it comes to the league title race. Truth be told, Sundowns won the title in the first 10 games of the season, which meant coach Riveiro and his other colleagues stood no chance of ever catching up. Everyone else was still 'finding their feet' during that period.
Had it not been for Pirates' inconsistency throughout the campaign, dropping points un- necessarily and playing like a team that was just happy to be in the Top Eight at times, we would have seen a two-horse race between these two teams for the league honours. That's why coach Riveiro has no choice but to prove he is capable of winning the league title next season. When you look at what coach Riveiro did for Patrick Maswanganyi, Thalente Mbatha, to mention just two, these are players who were pretty much nobodies in local foot- ball as they hardly got a look in at SuperSport United. They've become household names in just one full season with Riveiro, with Maswanganyi earning himself four nominations for the DStv Premiership awards. This speaks volumes about the high level of coaching they received from the Bucs tactician. You also look at the coach's heartwarming interaction with Fortune Makaringe, after the final whistle of the Nedbank Cup final at Mbombela Stadium, a player who has been starved of regular game- time, and you can't help but feel the man's management skills are on another level.
The way he handles himself on the sidelines, the way he calmly reacts even to heated situations, how he calmly influences games and how he has improved Bucs players both individually and collectively are just something to marvel at. It says a lot about the coach that he is and the quality he possesses. Not many people would have picked up on how Bucs players countered Sundowns' attention to de- tail in that final. When Pirates were awarded a penalty, Tshegofatso Mabasa grabbed the ball as if he was the penalty-taker. Having seen what happened when Stellenbosch FC were awarded a penalty against Sundowns, three matches earlier, where Ronwen Williams masterfully delayed the penalty take, giving his goalkeeper coach, Wendell Robinson and the analysts enough time to research Iqraam Rayners' penalty takes and the rest was hist- ory as they correctly predicted Rayners and led to another 'Ronza' penalty save, Mabasa conspired to deceive the Sundowns bench and sold them a dummy! They surely thought on their feet and researched him, instead of the eventual penalty-taker, 'Tito' and all their hard work went down the drain. Mabasa acted as a decoy and surely this was all planned if Mabasa's broad smile as he handed the ball over to Maswanganyi was anything to go by. One could only imagine the frown on Downs technical team's faces upon realising that they were actually hoodwinked into thinking Mabasa was the man they needed to 'vet' as they'd wasted their energy on the wrong player. That's high level of thinking on your feet and preparation, which goes hand-in-hand with how the coach surprised everyone with the starting line-up and used his bench to win the game. There's a new sherif in town!
Cheers,
VeeJay
