Understandably, Scott Chickelday's hush-hush arrival as Orlando Pirates striker's coach was met with an air of skepticism in some quarters, especially since the man who held the title before, Stephane Adam, couldn't change the club's fortunes in front of goal. But it seems, despite staying for a much shorter period, the 48-year-old succeeded where the Frenchman failed, with the Soweto giants notching up 11 goals in his five matches under contract. Although his departure after just one month on the job came as a shock to many, after arriving 'unannounced' nogal, the club has continued with the rich vein of scoring form, something attributed to the imprint he left on the training pitch. Suddenly, the Soweto giants are no longer that team notorious for enjoying large spells of possession on the ball in games, without threatening the opposition much. There's a semblance of intent to their attack. In this interview with Soccer Laduma's Delmain Faver, the ex-Tottenham Hotspur youth coach reflects on his time at Bucs, reveals why the club will end Mamelodi Sundowns' dominance, as well as his pick for DStv Premiership Player of the Season.
Delmain Faver: Brief but eventful – that was your stint with Orlando Pirates…
Scott Chickelday: It was always gonna be a short-term contract. I may come back out … I don't know yet … but it was always gonna be short and it was an amazing time. I really enjoyed it. It's a fantastic club and some fantastic players and, you know, hopefully they've learned some things from me. They are looking like they are scoring goals regularly now, which, for me, is a big plus.
DF: So, how did your move to the club happen?
SC: So, I got approached by the CEO. He approached me and just asked whether I would be interested to come over and work with the strikers at Orlando Pirates. I know the club… obviously in England, we all know the big clubs in South Africa, like Mamelodi Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs and obviously Orlando Pirates. So, for me, it was an easy answer. I was very keen to come over and experience South African football and be involved with Orlando Pirates. It's a huge club with great ambitions and a great history. So, yeah, it was an easy decision for me.
DF: But why did they never officially announce your arrival?
SC: I think because it was only gonna be a short-term contract. That's probably why there was no official announcement. That's all I can think. But I've got a good relationship with the club and I'm still speaking to them on a daily basis. I still speak to all the players on a daily basis. Like I said, who knows, maybe I'll be back. I'm not too sure at the minute, but hopefully I will be back.
DF: What exactly does a striker coach do?
SC: I started working as a striker coach about six years ago because I was working individually with some players in England and a lot of them were coming to me to work on finishing and there was a lack of it in clubs. Not so much a lack of finishing, but a lack of individual work with players based around the players' needs. So, I decided to take it on and do it that way and how it works in a club. So, Orlando Pirates, I obviously was in there day-to-day, working with the players, working alongside Jose Riveiro – fantastic head coach. I would work with the players on finishing. So, I'd put together various finishing drills and then we would work on the players' needs. Before I come out, I'll watch loads of videos and footage of the attacking players and then base our sessions around what I feel they may need to gain confidence on and work on certain areas of the pitch that I feel they could be better in. Yeah, I worked on them on a daily basis. So, the team would train and then I would do some individual work with the players, either in the middle of training or at the end of training. Then it was just building relationships with the players, you know. They are great guys and it's just about instilling confidence. Like (Terrence) Dzvukamanja, for instance… I just felt he was low on a little bit of confidence, so I tried to just build his confidence a little bit and he's playing fantastic now. It was great to see him score against Maritzburg United. I was really happy to see him score again. So, yeah, that's basically how it worked.
DF: What was your first impression of the side's attacking department?
SC: When I watched the clips, I obviously realized that they are talented players. There's some very good strikers and attacking players there, like (Monnapule) Saleng. I think he's been phenomenal this season. If he doesn't get Player of the Year, I'll be shocked. This season, I think he's been absolutely fantastic. I really like Kermit (Erasmus). So, look, the quality is there. Like I said, Dzvukamanja, Vincent Pule, I looked at their clips and you could see the real quality. I think obviously the way it was going is they weren't scoring as many goals. Then there comes a certain amount of pressure on players to perform and I think they were lacking a little bit of confidence. So, I think it was just really getting repetition to finish and getting them confident, getting them self-belief, you know … them realizing how good they actually are. They are top players and when you are not scoring goals, there's huge amounts of pressure on you, not just from the club, (but from) teammates, management team, the press, the media, you know – all eyes are on you. Questions are being asked and it can be quite a lonely place up there. So, basically, like I said, it was just about getting them confident, getting self-belief into them and getting a repetition of finishing and getting them to believe that they are top players and they can score goals. At the time I was there, I think we scored 10 goals in five games, and before I came out there, I think they scored 10 goals in 15 games, so it was quite a good return.
DF: What changed then?
SC: It was just instilling confidence. What was pleasing for me was that we had two games … I think it was Stellenbosch FC and Golden Arrows… We scored seven goals in two games, with seven different goal scorers. That was brilliant. Phillip Ndlondlo scored. He was one that I've done quite a lot of work with as well. And it was just self-belief. Every day when you are doing sessions and you are scoring goals, I'm really encouraging them, getting behind them, trying to breed confidence within them, not just myself, but the other coaches as well. And it's getting a reaction, you know. That self-belief and actually believing that when you get these opportunities, just be more ruthless in front of goal. You have to take chances to win games because if you don't take chances, you can't expect to win games. And once I, sort of, tried to install that into them, it just seemed to, sort of, click. Like I said, it was pleasing. I watched a game (against Maritzburg United) here (in the UK) the other day as well, they scored two good goals as well. Like I said, at the minute Saleng is absolutely flying and Terrence looks like he's really turned the corner now. He's not become a better player, I think he's become more confident and because he's more confident, he's now scoring, and I think that's the difference. They were already a talented bunch of players. I don't think I've improved them as players, I just think I've got more confidence into them and more self-belief and we've worked on more repetition in grey areas that they had.
DF: Who of the lot impressed you most?
SC: With Saleng, I think what he has is he plays without fear, which is what I love about him. He doesn't fear anyone, you know. One-v-one, he's very confident, he's confident in front of goal, he shoots from various angles. For me, he was one of the most exciting players that I have seen in my time in South Africa, in the PSL. I thought he was a fantastic player. He's a great human being, he's a really nice guy and yeah, I think he has everything. He's such a good player and, like I said, I would be very surprised if he didn't win Player of the Year this season. With Saleng, it's not just about his goals. I think he's got about eight assists or something like that as well, so he's very rounded and his numbers are very balanced. He scores goals and he creates goals. So, again, that's what's really, sort of, stood out for me. That's just another point I wanted to get in with Saleng.
DF: Taking to social media, you didn't sound too pleased at having left Pirates on a losing note after that 1-0 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns.
SC: It was an emotional game for me because I knew it was my last game and obviously, against Sundowns, I wanted to leave with a positive result. Look, everyone was proud of the club with the performance. It was a fantastic performance. I think we matched Sundowns in every single area on the pitch. Maybe switched off when we conceded the goal, but I thought we did create a lot. I was not so much disappointed, I was just surprised that we never got anything out of that game because I thought it was probably one of the best performances from Pirates from when I was out there, not just individually, but collectively. I thought it was a great team performance. Look, that's the thing about football, sometimes you can dominate a game for 80 or 90 minutes and still lose. That's why everyone loves football. If I could have left with a win against Sundowns, it would have made the whole experience even better because Sundowns are a fantastic side. You've only got to look at the league table to see how good they are, and it would have been a good way to finish my spell there. But look, I was a little bit disappointed with the result, but I wasn't disappointed with the performance because I thought it was a fantastic performance.
DF: What do you think the Buccaneers need to do to close the gap on Downs?
SC: I think the gap is gonna close and I'm pretty sure it will because I think … and this is no disrespect to any other team in South Africa … Pirates have got one of the best head coaches, potentially, in Africa. Jose Riveiro is fantastic; not just him but his management team are good. I think it took a little while for some of the players to maybe adjust to his training methods and his philosophy in football, but I think they are getting to that stage where the players are buying into what he does. I think that Jose will take that team to where they need to be, because like I said, he's fantastic. I really enjoyed my time with him, I learned a lot from him. He's a football man. He's got a football brain and his knowledge of football is phenomenal. I do think that that gap will close and I think that Pirates will get very close next season if Jose's still there.
DF: For you, what next?
SC: No, I'm just working in my personal capacity at the minute. So, I'm working with individual players, and I will be going into a club in England in the next couple of weeks, just a short-term (job) again. That's what I'm doing at the minute. My options are open, the door's always open to go back to South Africa if there's an option to go back out there. At the minute, I'm just working individually. The thing with me, I'm always busy because there's not many striker coaches around.
DF: Best of luck. Hope to see you back out here again, coach.
SC: Thank you very much. Good to talk to you. Have a great day, thanks. And who knows, maybe we'll have another conversation soon when I'm back.
