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Let’s talk about Josef “JZ” Zinnbauer and his record. Aowa! The new Orlando Pirates coach’s CV doesn’t inspire confidence at all and I tend to agree with those who have doubts if the German mentor is the right man for the Bucs hot seat.
From his previous job at St Gallen in Switzerland in 2017, his record reads: 30 losses, 19 wins, 14 draws in 63 matches.
Now that’s a record! That’s where I, and I guess everyone else, started trying to get to know JZ.
My first impression was: Oh no, not again!
True to the nature of South Africans, the 49-year-old German has already been baptised and given new names – from Zanzibar to Zimbabwe – hopefully he will prove us wrong.
Although it is often said that a book should not be judged by its cover, if the comments that followed Zinnbauer’s appointment are anything to go by, the German coach was already written off and judged before his first training session with the players.
He has already been condemned to the scrap heap, with nothing good said about him.
I don’t fall into this majority’s mentality because I am a firm believer in giving people a chance to prove themselves. Zinnbauer’s CV might not inspire confidence but the ball is in his court to prove his detractors wrong.
He has already been compared to Kjell Jonevret, the Swede who had a brief spell at Bucs in 2017. Remember how Jonevret came to our shores – in similar circumstances – and only lasted six months.
Now the big question is: Were Pirates so desperate they had to get a coach without experience in African football? Are these desperate measures calling for desperate action?
Clearly, this looks like the case.
Granted, caretaker coach Rhulani Mokwena has not been doing too well, with four wins, six losses and five draws in 15 matches.
Although Pirates have been playing well and showed signs of improvement, the results have not been impressive. And coaches are judged by the results they deliver
I think Mokwena was given enough time, the boots he stepped into just didn’t fit and he wasn’t ready when he was thrown into the deep end.
Frankly, Mokwena’s inexperience showed in some matches, particularly when it came to team selection and his seeming failure to address the team’s glaring defensive frailties.
What Pirates lacked under Mokwena was mental strength and the ability to kill off matches.
In at least three matches they conceded goals late – with fewer than 10 minutes to the final whistle – sometimes right at the death. In my book, this is where Mokwena failed.
It then begs the question: When is the right time to relieve a coach of his duties and replace him? Is there a formula for this?
Was the hiring of Zinnbauer a move to silence those who have been calling for Mokwena’s head or was it to protect him from what was coming his way after a section of the Bucs’ fickle fans bayed for his blood last weekend after the team threw away a two-goal lead and ended up drawing against Baroka?
It could be that Pirates chairperson Irvin Khoza made the move on Zinnabauer to ward off a potential backlash from the club supporters.
Let us not forget that the “Iron Duke” acted the same way two years ago when he unveiled the relatively unknown Jonevret from Sweden.
When Jonevret came on board, also on a three-year contract, his appointment happened shortly after an angry mob of fans ran amok at Loftus Versfeld following Bucs’ 6-0 demolition by Mamelodi Sundowns.
Pirates had gone for almost two months with an interim coach, Augusto Palacios, at the time.
But for me and many others, the jury is already out on whether Zinnbauer can improve on his record.
But like I said, let’s not judge the book by its cover, just yet.
After all, most of these European coaches come to our shores as nobodies and some have gone on to prove their worth and make names for themselves. A few others lived up to their nobody tags.
As for Mokwena, I hope he has learnt his lessons and will go back to be an assistant and learn more.
This is not the end of the world for him and, after tasting how it is to be in the hot seat, I hope he will come back a better person and an even better coach.
However, this will depend on how he handles his “demotion” back to his previous position.
Follow me on Twitter @TimspiritMolobi
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