Former Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer made little attempt to hide his delight at joining Raja Casablanca after making a sharp U-turn on returning to the PSL.
As reported by FARPost earlier this week, Zinnbauer appeared poised to join a DStv Premiership side ahead of the 2023/24 season.
The German coach was in talks with Richards Bay FC with an insider revealing that “the chairman [Jomo Biyela] has been in talks with Zinnbauer. The idea is to have him come and take charge of the pre-season”.
Richards Bay, yet to offer out-of-contract Vasili Manousakis a new deal are looking to bolster their technical team after struggling in the second half of the just-ended season. They finished 13th after a strong start to their debut season.
The indications are that they are in the market for a new coach. And the KZN outfit had already agreed a deal in principle with Zinnbauer.
However, the German opted against joining the Natal Rich Boyz for a more lucrative contract at Raja.
“He [Zinnbauer] weighed offers, Raja are big. They also pay more. Remember they wanted Pitso Mosimane. And Richards Bay struggled financially towards the end of the season,” said the source.
The former Hamburger SV and St. Gallen mentor had no job since his brief spell at Russian giants FC Lokomotiv Moscow. He had roped in Fadlu Davids as his assistant coach having worked with him at Pirates. However, their time in Russia was cut short following a series of poor results.
Raja made Zinnbauer’s unveiling on Thursday evening and the coach expressed his joy to have joined the Moroccan giants who have seven CAF titles to their name, including three Champions League trophies.
JOSEF ZINNBAUER ON JOINING RAJA CASABLANCA
“I’m happy that I came here [Raja],” said Zinnbauer after replacing coach Mondher Kebaier.
“Though I know the club, I know the city, I know the supporters of this club.
“I had my experience with these guys and I will fight for these guys; construct this club and get to the success and target of this club is to win titles,” he added.
The 53-year-old’s task is to return Raja to its glory days. He has a golden opportunity to start his Raja tenure on a high as the Moroccan giants are in the Throne Cup semi-finals.
In addition, they are in the group stages of the Arab Cup following their exit from the CAF Champions League. They suffered elimination at the hands of Al Ahly in the quarter-finals.
Zinnbauer is no stranger to winning trophies as he clinched the 2020 MTN8 title with Pirates before abruptly leaving the Soweto giants. In his resignation from the club, he cited “family reasons”. This was a few months after his son had a serious accident.
He will be expected to help Raja finish the 2022/23 Botola Pro League season on a positive note in the last four matches.
Raja are sixth on the log standings with nine wins, nine draws and eight defeats.
Zinnbauer is set to be in the dugout when Raja take on the 2022 CAF Confederations Cup champions RS Berkane. The Oranges Boys edged Pirates in the final.
The league encounter will take place on Sunday; 11 June 2023.
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