Riveiro gets praised for his work after successful season at Pirates

Ex-Orlando Pirates striker James Mothibi says Bucs coach Jose Riveiro has proved himself to be worthy to be at the helm of the club and thatcthe happy days at team are back. 

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This is after Riveiro clinched two titles for the team, winning the MTN8 Cup and the Nedbank Cup, as well as finishing second in the DStv Premiership. Mothibi says a lot of people,,including some Pirates fans, didn’t have faith in Riveiro when he first started with the team.

“People were calling the coach the plumber and those sort of names. But, I’ve had respect for him even though when he came in no one knew his background and he coached in a small league. So that made people judge. I said let’s give him a chance and see what he does. The coach has proved a lot of negative supporters wrong,” said Mothibi.

“And they started to enjoy his tactics because they didn’t expect him to deliver the way he did.

“I have always kept constant communication with coach Mandla Ncikazi and supported the whole technical team of Pirates. Coach Riveiro is very tactical, quiet and he is an honest person. He had brought the happy people and happy days back to Pirates.”

The former Bucs forward believes Pirates could have won more games this season. However, he understands that building a team is not easy, and he wants the club to fight to win the championship title next season. 

“There were games I thought Pirates should have won. But when you’re building a team, with a new coach and players, it takes time to gel. From my knowledge of Pirates, I think they are on the right track. They are implementing things at the right time and they have a good coach. They also have Ncikazi, who now knows the ins and outs of the club very well,” he added. 

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“They now have to make sure that they prepare well when pre-season starts because they have to fight for the league title.”