Interim Orlando Pirates coach Augusto Palacios does not need to be told how important winning Saturday afternoon’s Soweto Derby with rivals Kaizer Chiefs (3.30pm) is, nor does he need to be warned how hot the Pirates coaching seat can get when things are not going well.
Palacios has been in this situation before and seems to enjoy it whenever he is called upon by chairman Irvin Khoza to lead the Buccaneers. So it’s no wonder he has remained cool since taking over as interim coach on Monday following the suspension of Julio Leal.
Not even Wednesday night’s 3-0 defeat to Santos in Cape Town and the club’s miserable week have side-tracked Palacios in his bid to led the Soweto club to another Absa Premier League title.
“This is nothing new to me. When Roy Barreto left Pirates (in 2003 after winning the league), I came in as the coach. We’d worked together when Pirates won the league (2002/2003) and when he left two or three months into the next season, I did not have a problem taking over,” Palacios said.
“Ironically, my first match was also against Santos and we drew 2-2 that day,” the coach recalls.
The last time Palacios was in charge at Pirates (in the 2003/2004 season), his side beat Amakhosi 1-0 thanks to a Joseph Makhanya strike.
“I can’t remember much about that match, but I remember that we won. It’s always good to win against Chiefs.”
Pirates were the hosts in that match and the Peruvian is looking for a repeat of that winning performance from the current group of players at Pirates. They are again the hosts at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
“We need to entertain our supporters, but the result counts more, because this is a derby. I’m not putting them under pressure and we are not going to make too many changes,” Palacios said.
Chiefs winger Siphiwe Tshabalala is set to play his first match in 2012 having recovered from an ankle injury, though he is not a guaranteed starter for Vladimir Vermezovic’s side.
“I’m happy that I have recovered fully. I have been out of action for about a month, and coming back against Pirates – that’s another thing,” Tshabalala said.
“I have been working very hard, I have been doing extras on my own trying to be on the same level as the whole team. But it is never easy and I hope that I won’t struggle. I’m really looking forward to it and I hope I will be given the chance to help my team,” the Bafana Bafana vice-captain said.
Amakhosi, second on the Premiership table on 33 points, have not played a competitive match in two weeks, while Orlando Pirates, level on points with Chiefs but in third place, only trained twice this week ahead of the derby, and played two matches – the Nedbank Cup match against Ethekwini Coastal FC and the league match against Santos.
Despite not playing for two weeks, Chiefs captain Itumeleng Khune says they are the favourites to walk away with all three points.
“Pirates are under pressure because they lost to Santos so for us it is an advantage mentally. We are the favourites,” the goalkeeper said. - Saturday Star