‘Bad choice’ – Pirates legend not convinced Riveiro is the real deal

Former Orlando Pirates striker James Mothibi is not convinced that new coach Jose Riveiro is the right man to bring success at the club, saying Bucs could have gone for someone like Adel Amrouche.

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Pirates announced the appointment of the Spanish born Riveiro as the head coach last weekend.

Mothibi, however, believes Riveiro was a bad choice, saying the coach doesn’t have experience to coach a big club like Pirates.

“The coach does not have experience, that alone raises a lot of questions, especially for a big club like Pirates. At Pirates, there is a lot of pressure, so that already puts him in the spotlight. You are not just there to be a coach, but you are there to represent people, people who died for the club, people who are paying to get into the stadium with their hard earned money,” said Mothibi.

“Pirates is a brand, it is a big club and there is so much that is expected from you. There is a lot of history behind the club, you are fighting for someone like Irvin Khoza, who has worked so hard to find sponsors for the team. Pirates are not an easy team. I respect the coach, but he must know that the pressure is huge [at Pirates].”

‘Does he know Pirates? Does he know that Pirates play in Africa? Yes, we might have not qualified to play in the Caf games (Caf club competitions) for next season , but that doesn’t really mean Pirates is not a big team.”

The fact that this is only Riveiro’s second job as a head coach of a senior team worries Mothibi about the pressure that he will face at Pirates.

Mothibi believes former MC Alger and Botswana national team coach Adel Amrouche was the best candidate for the job.

“Having said that, we can’t judge him at this moment, we have to see what brings. But his profile raises questions; there is a coach that I suggested who has experience in African, West and South Africa. He was ready to coach Pirates. Plus there are lots of facilities and good professionalism there. The coach I am talking about is Adel Amrouche, you must know him. He was the coach of Botswana, they were also good, they played good football,” he added.

“Again, people at top management know what they are doing. Let us see how he will do even though I am not convinced.”

Amrouche is currently the coach of the Yemen national team.