NKARENG MATSHE | Jose's record may give credence to 'plumber' claim

As Orlando Pirates prepare to host Golden Arrows tomorrow, Jose Riveiro probably fears the little credibility he has built to cleanse himself of the caricature of a “plumber” – an offending phrase reserved for coaches from abroad with questionable credentials – may be slowly fading.

Pirates head into tomorrow’s DStv Premiership aiming to halt a three-match losing streak which has seen them plunge closer to the relegation zone instead of heading anywhere near leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who have now established a yawning gap against the very team tipped to supposedly give them a fight this season.

When he was appointed last June, Riveiro ran into a storm fuelled mainly by today’s social media world which can build or destroy reputation at the click of a cellphone keyboard.

“Who is this?” was the mantra when, on one cold Saturday morning, Pirates named previously unheard of Spaniard, Riveiro, as the man to replace Mandla Ncikazi as head coach. To his credit, Riveiro’s first six months weren’t too bad for a man who arrived here with a less than satisfactory CV. But they haven’t been that glamorous either.

Pirates’ triumph in the MTN8, which included a convincing dispatching of Sundowns in the semifinal, won over even some of Riveiro’s harshest critics.

But football always has this honesty aspect which, in the long run, tends to expose chancers from real soldiers.

The MTN8 remains one of the easiest competitions to win, but it by no way should be used to measure anyone’s overall competence. One of Riveiro’s predecessors, Josef Zinnbauer, who similarly landed the Pirates post amid shock in local football ranks, won this cup in December 2020 without turning the club into a competitive force in the league.

Riveiro’s record in the league makes for a sorry reading: P15 W5 D4 L6, with 19 points collected. We are only at the halfway mark but Pirates have lost as many matches as they did under Ncikazi and Fadlu Davids all of last season. Pirates are also the third worst scorers with a paltry 10 goals (bettering only Maritzburg United and TS Galaxy on eight each).

One of Pirates’ biggest shortcomings under Riveiro has been their inability to string together a run of form which could buy him time. Believe it or not, the last time Pirates won two successive league matches was in December 2021. It’s an indictment for such a big team to battle so much for consistency.

Of course, laying the blame solely at Riveiro’s door would be insincere. Pirates have not helped themselves with a highly questionable recruitment policy over the past few years, with glaring duplications in certain positions, and barrenness in others. It won’t help any coach’s cause that some of these recruitments have little to do with his own needs. Would Riveiro have played a part in signing 29-year-old Craig Martin from Cape Town City, for instance?

Pirates management, to their credit, did seem to get it right when they brought back Micho Sredojevic in 2017. Twice, they were within a whisker of dethroning Downs, infamously losing the 2019 title on the last day.

Bucs’ regression has been gradual since, finishing 17 points behind the champions in 2020/21, and further 21 adrift last season. The claim that Pirates have the closest squad to Sundowns sounds even more ludicrous.

Of course the coaching ethos makes a huge difference, and this is where Riveiro comes in. There were major doubts when he was hired and he’s not doing too much to disprove those misgivings about him. He has 15 league matches, plus the Nedbank Cup, to prove he’s no “plumber”.