Orlando Pirates’ new head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou will have taken interest in the list of fixtures that have been released this week.
While Ouaddou is still in Spain on pre-season, the list of fixtures that he is preparing for will have been noted on his laptop.
READ: Chiefs’ new signing in ‘problem solver’ test
Beyond knowing that they will have Polokwane City in the MTN8 at Orlando Stadium on August 2, they now have details of the Betway Premiership list of fixtures.
The Buccaneers have Sekhukhune United on August 9, then Marumo Gallants (August 12), Stellenbosch FC (August 20), Orbit College (August 26), and close off their league matches for the opening month with Chippa United (August 31).
Just like last season, there will be another long wait for the Soweto Derby.
The first-round match of the biggest league fixture on the domestic calendar will only be played next year in February, with the second game in April.
By the time the first league Soweto Derby is played, the MTN8 – which Pirates will hope to defend when the final is played in September – will have come and gone, just like the Carling Knockout, whose final is in December.
The Nedbank Cup will also have started, while the CAF Champions League group stage will be done with the Soweto giants expected to be in the quarterfinals just like they did last season.
These are the demands facing Ouaddou as he seeks to become only the 10th man to stay in that seat from the start of the season to the last day.
He will soon know that Orlando is a friendly space when his team is winning and yet can be hell when results are not forthcoming.
The volatile nature of the Pirates job has meant only Viktor Bondarenko, Gordon Igesund, Roy Barreto, Kosta Papic, Rudi Krol, Eric Tinkler, Micho Sredojevic, Josef Zinnbauer, and Jose Riveiro have ever been able to complete at least one full season in charge since August 1996 when the PSL was born.
READ: Ex-Chiefs defender gets the better of Messi, Suarez & co.
The Moroccan-Frenchman is in the biggest job of his coaching career to date, which started as a youth coach at Nancy – the French club where Arsene Wenger coached and where the legendary Michel Platini played.
He has found considerable support with the signings made by the club, which include Oswin Appollis, Sipho Mbule, Sihle Nduli, Tshepo Mashiloane, Kamogelo Sebelebele, Yanela Mbuthuma, Sinoxolo Kwayiba, Masindi Nemtajela, Tshepang Moremi, and Nkosikhona Ndaba.
Photo: Orlando Pirates
