After the appointment of Abdeslam Ouaddou as new head coach at Orlando Pirates, club legend Edward Motale has shared his sentiments about the surprise choice.
Ouaddou officially taking over from Jose Riveiro has raised eyebrows in the local football fraternity, given that he was unknown before taking over at Marumo Gallants in March, three months before the season came to an end.
The Buccaneers were expected to go big with their new head coach, as the Spaniard set the bar high, winning five trophies in three campaigns and finished the second in the Betway Premiership in all his time at the Soweto giants.
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On paper, the Moroccan-French coach does not boast a huge coaching pedigree, with his first job as a head coach being only five years ago when he lasted four months at Moroccan second division side Mouloudia Oujda.
And so, there is a temptation to doubt his suitability for such a huge task at Ezimnyama, with only 12 PSL games under his belt.
Motale, however, has suggested that it is encouraging that the 46-year-old played at the highest level for teams such as Fulham, Rennes and Olympiakos and has an incredible 80 caps for Morocco national team.
"Me I have a belief in him (Ouaddou), he coached 12 games at Marumo, personally I don't think he did bad, it's just that he got there late in the season, you get me," Motale told KickOff.com.
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"The other thing that gave me the belief, I saw his background, he did play this game, club and national level.
"So he knows what it takes, that's why I don't doubt him. I've got a belief in him, from the few games he coached at Marumo, where there are not even big names you see. But those few games he made a big difference," 'Magents' added.
Ouaddou had a 55,6 percent winning rate at Gallants, after winning five out of the 12 games in charge in a relegation battle, including a shock 2-0 win over Riveiro's Pirates and a 2-1 victory over Kaizer Chiefs.
The former AS Vita tactician only lost three games at the Bloemfontein based side, including a narrow 1-0 defeat to the Mighty Bucs in the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup.
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