Pirates unlikely to get preferred candidate: Khoza
Orlando Pirates appear to be a week away from naming their new head coach, although they were hoping to delay the process until their preferred candidate was available.
Club chairperson Irvin Khoza was forced to deviate from the business of the day at a press conference in Johannesburg to address the hooliganism by Buccaneers fans at Loftus Versveld at the weekend.
Khoza confirmed that a new coach had been sourced and his name would be announced next Monday.
The Buccaneers have been without a head coach since November last year when Muhsin Ertugral quit the club after a public post-match announcement on SuperSport following an embarrassing 6-1 hiding by SuperSport United.
Development Director Augusto Palacios has been at the helm in a caretaker capacity since then, but their humiliating 6-0 drubbing by Mamelodi Sundowns has forced the club to accelerate the process..
"It is not an easy task to find a coach for a team of the status of Orlando Pirates. When we have found a coach, the pressure on them is enormous," says Khoza.
The appointment of a new head coach has been a laboured process, which consequently led to media speculation and a whole host of potential candidates being thrown into the hat.
"Unfortunately, the candidate identified for the head coach position is in contract at another team. We cannot therefore reveal any information at this stage," says Khoza.
"We had hoped that at the end of January he would be available but there is a buy-out clause until the end of May."
Khoza says although they are unlikely to net their preferred candidate, their hand was forced in the interests of restoring stability in the team.
And stability is most certainly what Pirates need right now following Saturday's 6-0 drubbing.
Pirates are currently languishing in 10th place on the Absa Premiership table, 12 points adrift of leaders Cape Town City and their title aspirations appear to be gone.
Khoza says he had called a series of meetings with the technical team to 'get to the bottom of the problem'
So for now at least, Palacios will still be in charge of the team when the Buccaneers engage high-riding Bidvest Wits at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday evening.