New Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says he knows he’s arriving at a club that demands trophies immediately as he joins a project started by his predecessor, Jose Riveiro.
Riveiro won five domestic cups in his three seasons at the club and qualified for the CAF Champions League by finishing second in the league in each of his three campaigns before his eventual exit to join Egyptian giants Al Ahly.
The Morocco legend, who spent a brief stint at Marumo Gallants, where he impressed by retaining their top-flight status and nearly sneaking into the top eight in the final game of the season, was a surprise appointment – having ousted several foreign coaches who were considered.
“I’d like to thank the board, the fans for the warm welcome, the staff as well, I’m honoured to be part of this institution,” he said in an interview with Pirates TV.
“It’s a club, but for it’s an institution, when I see the fantastic organisation of the club, we can really say it’s an institution.”
Ouaddou spent five years coaching in the development of his former club AS Nancy in France, which included the stint as reserve team head coach, before working as the assistant of the Algeria national team, Mouloudia d’Oujda, Loto-Popo FC, AS Vita and eventually Gallants.
His name first hit the shores of South African football when he infamously resigned from Vita in the post-match press conference in Cape Town, citing the unprofessionalism and lack of backing from the club, after their CAF Confederation Cup exit to Stellenbosch.
However, he won a plenty of admirers in just 12 games in charge of the South African Premiership side, who looked to be heading for relegation before his arrival in March, with his first game, a 2-0 win over Pirates in the Free State, leading to five wins, four draws and three defeats overall – before his off-season switch to the Soweto giants.
“I will try to speak honestly and respect the brand, the football, and the fans as well, there is world between the organisation, the professionalism, the vision as well, I can say in Marumo Gallants, I had a good time, fantastic behaviour, mentality of players,” he said about the difference between Gallants and Pirates.
“Nice people, fantastic fans as well, the fans [in Bloemfontein] fantastic, very friendly people, so I appreciated a lot. But if we compare the two clubs, it’s too far away, the way I reach… or scouted by Pirates, I was very surprised.
“I can tell you Pirates are in the future, very advanced about how they are seeing football, how they are managing the club, I can tell the fans, those who love Orlando Pirates are lucky to have such people looking after the club.”
He added: “I played in England and France, I’m not sure if I have seen the way this people are managing the club, getting exactly what they want, the board saw me four or five times before taking a decision – they don’t take anyone just like that.
“There’s a lot of criteria, and when you past the first criteria, they have another one, when you finish, they have a second, and third – there’s a fourth one, we can say that the most important things will be results, when you coming to such a big club, there’s a brand.
“We are in a five-year process, we are at the end of the three years now, people need trophies and results now. When I put my foot here at Pirates, I’m not crazy, I know where I am putting my feet. The board knows what they want…”
He will now lead the side into pre-season in Spain where they have four friendlies confirmed between 11 July and 19 July.
Did you know that the iDiski Times Digital Newspaper is completely free! Download it now by clicking the button below or fill in the form to have it sent to you every week.
