Former Bafana Bafana star Sibusiso Zuma has advised Orlando Pirates to stay alert to the possibility of some clubs circling around and poaching Betway Premiership title-winning coach Abdeslam Ouaddou.
In his maiden season at the Buccaneers, the Moroccan delivered the league crown to end a 14-year drought. Ouaddou also helped Pirates seal a treble after they also won the MTN8 and Carling Knockout Cup.
It was a successful season that masked CAF Champions League elimination at the preliminary rounds earlier in the term. After Ouaddou’s predecessor, Jose Riveiro, had steered the Buccaheers to the semi-final of the 2024/25 Champions League, expectations were for Pirates to go a step further in the just-ended term.
But they failed to even reach the group stage. However, a domestic treble was at hand to save the former Fulham defender from stinging criticism.
WHY ORLANDO PIRATES SHOULD PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS FOR OUADDOU
Soon after Pirates won the PSL title, Ouaddou cast doubt about his future at the club. He gave the Buccaneers fans a scare by painting a bleak picture, saying he needed time to think about his future and to consult his management. The uncertainty about what’s left for him at Pirates sparked fears that he could be poached by some ambitious clubs.
It also evoked grim memories about how Milutin Sredojevic dumped Pirates in August 2019. The Serb indicated that he was leaving The Ghost to attend to his critically ill mother in his home country, only to be unveiled as Zamalek coach just after resigning at Pirates.
Now, with the prospect of Ouaddou being offered a lucrative deal by clubs elsewhere, Zuma has urged the Soweto giants to do everything possible to keep their coach.
“We are not going to understand this situation [speculation about Ouaddou’s future]. It might be his contract, it might be a lot of different things that we don’t know about,” Zuma told FARPost.
“One thing I can explain is that it’s a very difficult thing to win the championship. So you don’t let go of someone who has just won the championship. Building towards the championship takes a long time, in fact, years.
“They [Pirates] have a very good coach, they have got Ouaddou, who was able to plug in and continue from where Riveiro left. Pirates can’t take that for granted.
“They know how difficult it is to win the championship. They have to do everything, even if it means breaking the bank to keep the guy. It takes a special coach to win the championship, and Ouaddou did just that. Don’t take the whole thing for granted.”
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