Orlando Pirates head coach job too big for Ncikazi, says Vilakazi

Being an Orlando Pirates coach is a big job with a huge responsibility, which Mandla Ncikazi is not ready for yet, says former Orlando Pirates midfielder Benedict Vilakazi.

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Ncikazi was announced as the new member of the Bucs technical team earlier last month, but the club didn’t specify in which role the former Golden Arrows mentor will be slotted in.

That has raised a lot of questions at Bucs, especially with the speculations regarding the future of current head coach Josef Zinnbauer.

Vilakazi, however, believes Ncikazi will be better suited as an assistant at the Soweto giants.

“Mandla Ncikazi is very good, his record says a lot. You see, I like following South African coaches. He was an assistant at Free State Stars, Maritzburg United before being taking over as a head coach and at Golden Arrows as well. But I don’t think he should be appointed as a head coach at Pirates. I have my own reasons for saying that. He did well at Arrows (last season helping the club finish in fourth place on the DStv Premiership standings). But now, let’s not put pressure on him and say he must be a head coach at Pirates. Because we will be killing his reputation and career,” Vilakazi told Phakaaathi.

“Pirates is a big team and when you coach Pirates…I played for Pirates, I know the culture of the team, I know how things work at the club. If you’re going to come and coach the team and you don’t do certain things you will be out. It’s not going to be a good thing for him. He hasn’t been a coach for more than four or five seasons at a big team, even at Arrows. You must also remember that he was coaching unknown players at Arrows. The only player that a lot of people would say they know is Gladwin Shitolo. But the rest of the players, we see them when they play in the Cosafa Cup tournament for their national teams and that’s when we start remembering them.”

Vilakazi also added that coaching a big club like Pirates comes with managing big players, and that’s something Ncikazi is not used to.

“It’s easy to coach unknown players and make them big players. But when it comes to coaching big players it’s hard. For me, I will have him in my team, but not as a head coach, but as an assistant. Or even as a technical director in terms of putting the structure of the team together.”