Abdeslam Ouaddou will have the heaviest workload of his coaching career as he gets down to work as the new head coach of Orlando Pirates.
Ouaddou has taken over from Jose Riveiro for the job with volatile tendencies and yet so desired.
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Riveiro left the job having won the hearts of the majority that sit opposite the dugout at Orlando Stadium, and it was no surprise that he got a befitting send-off in May after the Spaniard opted for a bigger gig at Al Ahly.
For Ouaddou – who is a 46-year-old Moroccan-Frenchman – this is the biggest job of his coaching career, which has just surpassed the decade mark.
Both his playing and coaching careers started out at French club AS Nancy Lorraine – the club where Arsene Wenger coached at the beginning of his coaching journeyand also the club where the legendary Michel Platini played.
The French city of Nancy is home for Ouaddou and carries a similar connection for one of Morocco’s best footballers of all time, Mustapha Hadji, whose game was all about silky touches.
Right now, what matters for Ouaddou is that he now has a job that could define his coaching career just like it did for his predecessor Riveiro.
By his own admission, Riveiro’s life will never be the same as he now stands amongst the best-paid coaches on the continent in his job at Ahly.
Ouaddou takes over at the Soweto giants with the club having finished second in the league three years in a row and having won silverware for every season under Riveiro.
The only improvement is to win the league and that will come with unseating Mamelodi Sundowns.
If Ouaddou can guide Pirates to championship glory, then he will endear himself to this historic club that can be extremely difficult to impress at times.
Gordon Igesund, Roy Barreto, and Rudi Krol can all attest to this having lost their jobs after winning the league.
With inductions, medicals and physical assessments done, this week will pave way for the real start of pre-season before they move on to their pre-season camp in Spain from July 8-20.
Bucs have confirmed eight signings to date, who include Sipho Mbule, Sihle Nduli, Tshepo Mashiloane, Yanela Mbuthuma, Sinoxolo Kwayiba, Masindi Nemtajela, Tshepang Moremi, and Nkosikhona Ndaba.
READ | Soweto giants announce SEVEN new signings
Malian midfielder Abdoulaye Mariko is also coming in, which sets the club towards fielding a team of new signings with more signings expected before the end of the transfer window.
This gives Ouaddou the work weight of finding the perfect balance between the new signings and those that were at the club at the close of last season.
The Pirates coaching changes in the PSL era years:
1996/97 – Viktor Bondarenko/Augusto Palacios/Ronald Mkandawire
1997/98 – Ronald Mkandawire/Shaibu Amodu
1998/99 – Viktor Bondarenko
1999/00 – Ted Dumitru/Ronald Mkandawire
2000/01 – Gordon Igesund
2001/02 – Augusto Palacios/Jean-Yves Kerjean/Harris Chueu
2002/03 – Roy Barreto
2003/04 – Roy Barreto/Augusto Palacios
2004/05 – Kosta Papic
2005/06 – Kosta Papic/Teboho Moloi
2006/07 – Micho Sredojevic/Mutombo
2007/08 – Bibey Mutombo/Owen da Gama
2008-11 – Rudi Krol
2011/12 – Julio Leal/Augusto Palacios
2012/13 – Augusto Palacios/Roger de Sa
2013/14 – Roger de Sa/Eric Tinkler/Vermezovic
2014/15 – Vladimir Vermezovic/Eric Tinkler
2015/16 – Eric Tinkler
2016/17 – Muhsin Ertugral/Augusto Palacios/Kjell Jonevret
2017/18 – Micho Sredojevic
2018/19 – Micho Sredojevic
2019/20 – Micho Sredojevic/Rulani Mokwena/Josef Zinnbauer
2020/21 – Josef Zinnbauer
2021/22 – Josef Zinnbauer/Mandla Ncikazi & Fadlu Davids
2022/25 – Jose Riveiro
2025 – Mandla Ncikazi
Photo: Charle Lombard/Gallo Images
