Josef Zinnbauer was introduced in a very unusual manner by Orlando Pirates last month. Usually, there’s some fanfare around the arrival of a new coach at one of the top South African clubs, paraded in a press conference live on national television and social media.
That’s what happened with Bucs predecessors Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic and Kjell Jonevret.
Since his arrival on the 10th of December, Zinnbauer had yet to sit down and open up on his plans and his background with the media.
But after the morning training session on Monday, he took time to reveal how did he end up in South Africa.
For a big team which hasn’t won some silverware in almost six years now, there was a concern that in Zinnbauer they seem to have attracted a coach who didn’t have good credential when it comes to lifting trophies judging by his track record in recent years in Switzerland and Germany.
But the 49-year-old sees things differently as he also says he was in demand before coming to Pirates.
Bucs goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands is one of the players who have been a consistent feature in the Pirates squad since the arrival of Zinnbauer and he’s shared some insight on what type of a mentor he is.
Coaching revolution
There’s been a revolution in the coaching space in Germany, the old generation of coaches relied more on a rigid style of play which was just concentrated on the basics and playing percentage football.
But the current generation relies more on the modern trends with the likes of Jurgen Klopp and Julian Nagelsmann leading that revolution.
Zinnbauer who worked with FC Hamburg in the Bundesliga and FC St Gallen in Switzerland says he’s a mix of old and young.
– Report by Velile Mnyandu
