I joined Pirates during a difficult time – Zinnbauer 

Having won his first trophy at Orlando Pirates after a year with the club, Josef Zinnbauer says he knew exactly what he was getting himself into when took the Pirates job last year in December.

Zinnbauer had taken over a club that hadn’t won a major trophy in six years, and that was struggling in the league in the 2019/20 season too.

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But the German-born pushed on with his new side and managed to finish the last campaign in third place.

The Pirates coach says it was not easy trying to manage players who have already been under the guidance of two coaches already in one season. And now a year later, they are celebrating being the champions of the MTN8 after beating Bloemfontein Celtic 2-1 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.

“Well, one doesn’t have a crystal ball which shows the future however, any coach who joins a big club, a club with a history and pedigree such as Orlando Pirates, should know what he is getting himself into and what is expected of him,” said the Bucs coach.

“Having said that I joined during a difficult period at the club. It was not easy taking over a team in mid-season and a group of players who had already experienced two different coaches in that year. It was not an ideal scenario but management has been supportive from day one, we worked hard and thankfully we started to turn things around. It hasn’t been perfect, but I think under the circumstances we did well to steer the Pirates ship back in the right direction.”

The Bucs mentor is happy to have won the Wafa Wafa tournament, but knows that at a club with a rich history like Pirates, success is expected.

“It’s an amazing feeling of course to win but like I said earlier, a team like Pirates expects success and this means that we don’t stop now. We need to continue working and not relax after winning the MTN8.”

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