JOHANNESBURG – Swede Kjell Jonevret was named on Monday as the new head coach of Orlando Pirates Football Club.
Jonevret has signed a three year deal and takes over from caretaker coach Augusto Palacios. The Peruvian has endured a torrid time since he was handed the reins after Muhsin Ertugral quit his post last November following a 6-1 hammering by SuperSport United.
Harold 'Jazzy Queen' Legodi, the former Mamelodi Sundowns defender, will assist Jonevret after Pirates boss Irvin Khoza told the media at the Rand Stadium that current assistant Bradley Carnell has requested to be allowed to leave for an unspecified overseas offer. Many Pirates fans had been hoping that the next man in charge would be former Bucs and Bafana Bafana striker Benni McCarthy, while others were keen for Ruud Krol to return for a second stint.
But instead it was the 54-year-old Jonevret who has been handed one of South Africa's toughest footballing jobs.
"We hope that the new coach has new ways that he can show us. We want coaches who are tutors not traitors," said Khoza. "Coaches are like an arranged marriage, you go for the best. I think the most important thing is to improve the player's confidence and to stabilise the team," said the Iron Duke.
The new man will certainly have a lot of stabilising to do and will need to be made of stern stuff as he arrives at a time when the Sea Robbers are winless in their last eight league matches, and still possibly following disciplinary action after a pitch invasion during their 6-0 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns just two weeks back.
Jonevret has no experience in African football, having spent his playing and managerial career mainly in Sweden, as well as in Norway. He won the league and cup double with Djurgardens IF in 2005 and was named Swedish manager of the year that same term. Other than that, Jonevret, who spent the last four years with the Viking FK club, does not have an especially decorated CV.
He admits that Pirates and the PSL as a whole will be a big learning curve: "I would like to say that I know SA football fantastically well. But I have been down here to watch a few games. I am looking forward to this a lot and it will be fantastic. I am really honoured to be standing here."
African News Agency
Pirates' new coach: Kjell Jonevret. @extrastrongsa @IOLsport pic.twitter.com/Sz46StCcXl
— Mohau Ramashidja (@Mohau_Ra) February 20, 2017
BREAKING: Kjell Jonevret is the new Orlando Pirates coach. He is Swedish and is 54-years old.
— Mazola J. Molefe (@superjourno) February 20, 2017
Khoza: “He won the league in Norway and in Sweden. But lets hear what the media has to ask.”
— Mazola J. Molefe (@superjourno) February 20, 2017
Khoza: “There were a number of choices, but agents want to be the main actor. We really did extend our search. Sent letters.”
— Mazola J. Molefe (@superjourno) February 20, 2017