Pirates go up against Kaizer Chiefs in the soweto Derby at the FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon, providing the perfect opportunity for the players to end that barren run in style.
“They have been a little unlucky but luck is something that you earn by hard work,” says Jonevret in analysing what he has made of Pirates’ struggles.
“I have now tried to get the shoulders down a little bit. They are good footballers with a lot of talent in this group but they are a little bit low on confidence so I have to try to find a way to get them to show the best they can.
“I think they have reacted well, I am positive and I hope that they have started to forget about the past because we cannot do anything about it. We have to look forward.
“The pressure on a club like Orlando Pirates is that everybody expects them to be up there and of course Pirates should be up there. It is difficult to talk about the past, I just try to put my arm around them and tell them that come on you are a good footballer, show that,” he notes.
Following a fortnight that has been spent familiarising himself with just about everyone, the Swede has charmed the media as a smooth operator, yet he cautions that he shouldn’t categorised as a soft touch.
“I am not always so easy and you can ask my wife about that too because it could be pretty boring,” he says.
“Yes, it has to be fun to play and I am sure you know it guys that if you are not happy then you don’t do a good job. This is the same with football players. It is the same with a baker, if you don’t like to wake at three in the morning and bake the bread, the bread will not be good,” says Jonevret.
The 54-year-old’s love for golf, his desire to learn about cricket and rugby while soaking up the sunny weather in South Africa will all be in the back seat this afternoon.
“It could be positive that I don’t know what I am getting into because I am not so stressed. I try to prepare the players as is normal. If I had done this two or three times then I would have been a little bit nervous because you would be thinking in a different way since this is so important.
“So it could be a positive thing but even if I haven’t been in the Soweto Derby before, I have played in a lot of derbies. I am from Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and we have two to three big teams there and it is pretty much the same even though the arena is 50,000 or 60,000 [capacity].
“So those games are special and the winner there walks around happy and the loser stays at home. I have been in this kind of situation before so I know a little bit about it.
“One of the reasons why I came here is adventure. For me, Orlando Pirates is a fantastic opportunity and I want to tell my grandchildren when they grow up that we won the Soweto derby.
“I am not afraid. I have to give my players directions before the game because it is going to be tough for me to be standing on this side and yell to the winger on the other side ‘get in’ because nobody is going to hear him.
“I am thinking that maybe I should have cotton in the ears because that is going to be a surprise for me,” he says.