Bucs’ ‘exciting and fearless style of play’ wins Zinnbauer his first award

Winning the coveted coach-of-the-month accolade after only a few weeks in charge speaks volumes for Orlando Pirates mentor Josef Zinnbauer.

It was a clean sweep for the Buccaneers as red-hot striker Gabadinho Mhango also walked away with player of the month award for January.

The German-born coach only joined the Buccaneers in December and has made an immediate impact, with the Soweto giants currently sitting in second place on the Absa Premiership log.

In the voting period Zinnbauer (49) guided Orlando Pirates to four wins out of five matches played. He beat opponents Polokwane City, Mamelodi Sundowns, Highlands Park and AmaZulu, and his team scored 10 goals in the process.

The judging panel, which was led by coach and analyst Farouk Khan, praised Zinnbauer for turning around the team’s fortunes and making them Absa Premiership title contenders. They commended him for instilling an exciting and fearless style of play into a side that has also seen an improvement of their previously leaky defence.

Absa Premiership Player of the Month

The Buccaneers went unbeaten throughout January thanks, partly, to the six goals in five matches from Mhango.

The Malawian kicked off the month with a hat-trick away to Polokwane City and then secured wins over champions Sundowns and Highlands Park respectively. His terrific scoring form in January has seen him score a total of 14 goals this season so far, making him the leading goal-scorer going into the final stretch of the league.

For winning the monthly awards, Zinnbauer and Mhango will each receive R5 000 from Absa.

After being knocked out of the Nedbank Cup by Bidvest Wits last Sunday, Pirates visit Black Leopards in a league encounter on Sunday. Interestingly, Zinnbauer’s first game for Pirates was against Leopards in December and he led Pirates to a comfortable 3-1 victory. - PSL

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