He endured his fair share of scepticism when he joined Orlando Pirates just over a year ago, especially because he had not won a trophy as a professional coach. Now, Josef Zinnbauer has opened up on his expectations when he joined the Buccaneers.
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On Saturday, Zinnbauer managed to end the club's six-year trophy drought when he led them to the MTN8 title courtesy of a 2-1 win over Bloemfontein Celtic at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Speaking to Pirates' official website, the German says he never expected to win a trophy just one year into his tenure as coach, but he knew that it was one of the expectations that came with the Bucs hot seat.
"Well, one doesn't have a crystal ball which shows the future however, any coach who joins a big club, a club with a history and pedigree such as Orlando Pirates, should know what he is getting himself into and what is expected of him," Zinnbauer told Pirates' website.
"However, having said that I joined during a difficult period at the club. It was not easy taking over a team in mid-season and a group of players who had already experienced two different coaches in that year. It was not an ideal scenario, but management has been supportive from day one, we worked hard and thankfully we started to turn things around. It hasn't been perfect, but I think under the circumstances we did well to steer the Pirates ship back in the right direction," he explained.
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Zinnbauer says despite the excitement of winning his first trophy, there is no time for retreat, as he aims to achieve more success with the Buccaneers.
"As for expecting to win the cup? It's an amazing feeling of course to win but like I said earlier, a team like Pirates expects success and this means that we don't stop now. We need to continue working and not relax after winning the MTN8," Zinnbauer added.
View the images from the wild celebrations at the Moses Mabhida Stadium:
