How Kjell Jonevret can survive at Orlando Pirates

Swede Kjell Jonevret has signed a three-year contract with Orlando Pirates. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

Swede Kjell Jonevret has signed a three-year contract with Orlando Pirates. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

Published Feb 25, 2017

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JOHANNESBURG - Kjell Jonevret begins his tenure as Orlando Pirates coach on Saturday with the odds that he will see out his three-year contract incredibly stacked against him.

Not since Ruud Krol has a coach at the Buccaneers managed to stick around that long in the Premier Soccer League’s 21-year history, making the job one of the most complex in South African football.

While he is a breath of fresh air, seeing that chairman Irvin Khoza not only avoided the recycling of coaches among his domestic rivals but also brought in a complete outsider who has never explored the coaching scene away from Scandinavia, Jonevret has to double his efforts to prove he has staying power.

We have been dishing out free advice to the Pirates coach all week, so why stop now? Here we give him two valuable tips on how to try and survive the guillotine.

Learn from

predecessors:

That’s not necessarily always a good thing, but Jonevret will find that he could easily learn the tricks of the trade if he browsed through the first few months of Krol’s reign and a few coaches before him.

Yes, he comes in at a time when the club needs a calm figure and stability following an awful spell where the Buccaneers have gone nine matches without a win.

Most of the previous coaches got a clean slate or didn’t have to lift a squad so low on morale, but some of them were slow off the blocks.

Take Krol, for instance. It took the Dutchman five matches before he could get his first league victory, but, despite stuttering in the beginning, he finally got it right as Pirates just missed out on the championship through goal difference to SuperSport United in 2009.

Julio Leal, the man who replaced Krol two years later, had already won two domestic cups by the time he resigned nine months after being hired, while Roger De Sa and Eric Tinkler reached prestigious continental cup finals.

It’s never easy. Jonevret will find his own way, but it won’t hurt to dig into the past.

Former Orlando Pirates coach Ruud Krol. Photo: Duif du Toit/Gallo Images  

Unfamiliar

territory:

A lot has been and will be said about the fact that Khoza has looked to a complete unknown to rescue his club from the doldrums.

This is Jonevret’s first experience outside his native Sweden and Norway, where he was hot property.

He is no rookie, and will be aware that his best chance at holding on to the Pirates job is to deliver now that he has been given the responsibility.

Roger Palmgren remains the only other Swede to have coached in the PSL with spells at Thanda Royal Zulu and AmaZulu.

Perhaps it’s still a big deal that foreign coaches understand the mentality of African players, but with the modern game evolving daily, that is not such a deciding factor anymore, which would explain why Khoza bucked the trend even with his team in tatters this season.

Fixtures:

Today: Orlando Pirates v Polokwane City (Orlando Stadium, 3.30pm); Bloemfontein Celtic v Platinum Stars (Dr Molemela Stadium, 3.30pm); Mamelodi Sundowns v Bidvest Wits (Loftus Versfeld, 6pm); Ajax Cape Town v Kaizer Chiefs (Athlone Stadium, 8.15); Highlands Park v SuperSport United (Makhulong Stadium, 8.15)

Tomorrow: Maritzburg Utd v FS Stars (Harry Gwala Stadium, 3.30); Baroka v Cape Town City (New Peter Mokaba Stadium, 3.30)

@superjourno

The Saturday Star

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