Orlando Pirates assistant coach Mandla Ncikazi has hailed the work and attitude of Jose Riveiro, saying he is the perfect person to bring all different departments of the club together.
The Spanish coach has opted not to extend his contract beyond June 30, and only has six games left in the Pirates dugout.
Arguably the most important comes this Saturday when Riveiro’s side face Kaizer Chiefs in a Soweto Derby in the Nedbank Cup final – ahead of the match, Ncikazi has hailed the work of the Spanish mentor.
“Coach Riveiro is a very unique individual, more than a coach, he goes further than that, highly professional,” he told reports.
“He takes the job very seriously. He’s neither too happy, nor too disappointed. Where there is too much expectations it’s easy to be disappointed.
“It’s easier for the players, whether we lose or win, his approach is the same and I always think it helps the young players to perform without fear. Whether the result is good or bad, he is still the same.
“So one, he’s professional, he prepares well. He analyses games, he doesn’t rely on analysts, the new trend in our team. He goes [and looks] himself. He creates the game plan.
“The day in our preparation is long, it’s the profile of our opponents, it’s the planning, it’s the execution, it’s the training sessions, it’s the individual sessions and it’s post-match, so it’s quite a long spectrum of him as a person, allowing that to happen.
“Our club is a big institution, where there is a lot of institutions and department that must meet together – sport science, analysis – so that then the team performs and he’s at the end. So it’s just a process that is lead by him and it’s given the club what it’s achieved lately.”
