Orlando Pirates are in the market for several personnel in the club's backroom staff following an internal decision to advertise four posts!
The Siya crew has seen the available jobs, which includes the search for a strength and conditioning coach, a performance analyst, goalkeeper coach for the first team and academy as well as an assistant data analyst.
All posts have been advertised rather quietly and it is believed some top CVs have already landed on the club's desk from various countries outside Mzansi.
Despite an outcry from fans that co-coaches Mandla Ncikazi and Fadlu Davids have punched below expectation this season since taking over from German mentor Josef Zinnbauer in August, their positions do not seem to be under threat, although it would have been unusual for Pirates to publicly advertise the head coach position.
Indications are that the Buccaneers are, at this stage, are only keen to beef up the technical team and upskill their entire set up.
The five posts being advertised are currently occupied – Percy Moloi is the fitness coach and has also been filling in as the strength and conditioning coach having had experience there from working with South Africa's junior national teams, Darian Wilken is the club's only performance analyst, but the void left vacant by his colleagues Kyle Solomons (who joined Al Ahly) and Michael Loftman are still needing to be filled.
And then there's Sjoerd Woudenberg, the goalkeeper coach who joined Pirates from Cape Town City at the start of the season and works with the senior team. It's understood the term "first team" in the advertised post only refers to the Diski Challenge outfit (reserve team) and the job description also includes working with the academy.
Finally, Pirates are also looking for an assistant data analyst, which might be the only position that is currently not occupied.
Soccer Laduma has been led to believe that management aren't likely to make changes, but simply want to beef up the support structure behind Ncikazi and Davids, but in football you just never truly know what happens a few months down the line!
