The Serbian tactician marked his 50th competitive fixture with the club with a goalless draw against Absa Premiership rivals Mamelodi Sundowns over the weekend to maintain their standing atop the table.
Since his return to The Buccaneers following a brief stint in 2006, ‘Micho’ has taken the club from down in the dumps back to the forefront of the Premiership, having reestablished them as league title contenders.
After a 12th-place finish in the 2016/17 campaign, during which the club went through three different coaches, the former Uganda national team mentor steered the club to a second-place finish last term.
“It is a great honour for me to reach this milestone at such an important club like Orlando Pirates. We have both come a long way from when we first began this journey together 12 years ago,” Sredojevic reflected on his club’s website.
“The responsibility to coach this team is a big one because the expectation of the supporters is also very big.
“To be here for 50 games makes me extremely proud that, together with my technical team, the players and management, we are working towards the overall big picture of taking this club to the next level.
“When we began at the start of last season, we were driven by the desire to restore pride to the badge and also to heal the souls of our supporters after a very difficult and unusual season.
“We assembled a new technical team and made some changes to the playing personnel and we finished the league in a strong position of second place.
“Now we face a new challenge of maintaining the strength of the team and building on from that, so we can continue to bring happiness to the supporters.
“We are in a strong position currently, but we are not getting too far ahead of ourselves. We need to keep working hard, keep learning and remain humble and focused, taking each moment and each game as it comes.”
Sredojevic has won 25 of his 50 matches in charge while, rather impressively, suffering only 10 defeats.
According to the club’s website, of Pirates’ coaches to have surpassed the 50-game mark in the last decade, Micho ranks in at second, with treble-winning Dutchman Ruud Krol the only one to have registered a higher win percentage.
Ruud Krol 51% (60 wins / 21 defeats / 37 draws)
Micho Sredojevic 50% (25 wins / 10 defeats/ 15 draws)
Roger de Sa 48% (31 wins / 14 defeats / 20 draws)
Eric Tinkler 48% (36 wins / 20 defeats / 19 draws)