Former Orlando Pirates striker James Mothibi is worried coach Jose Riveiro could be a victim of a wave of criticism from club legends like what befell Pitso Mosimane at Al Ahly.
Riveiro arrived at Pirates as an unknown coach to Premier Soccer League followers in June to take up his first ever job in Africa.
His appointment saw former Buccaneers players clashing in their views about the decision to bring him in.
Now, with the Soweto giants failing to win their last two league games, including a home loss to a Chippa United side under rising coach Daine Klate, Mothibi fears there could be a backlash on Riveiro from club legends.
“Let’s welcome the coach at Pirates and let’s give him a chance because Pirates is a very big team,” Mothibi told Soccer Laduma.
“Let’s respect him as ex-players and we shouldn’t be like Al Ahly whose legends hammered coach Pitso Mosimane for nothing.
“I am just making an example with coach Pitso, and of course, he did well at Al Ahly as we all saw, but the club’s legends were still hammering him. At Pirates, we need to think very deeply before judging the coach.”
With Pirates having played just three league games so far, Mothibi says it would be “suicidal” to start making conclusions about the Spaniard.
“Like I said previously, it will be suicidal of us to start judging the coach so soon and we need to respect the people at Orlando Pirates who identified the coach,” added Mothibi.
“As an ex-player, I’m not going to talk bad about the coach, I’m not going to talk bad about those who brought him.
“I don’t know how the scouting procedure works at Pirates and I guess it is a matter of time to see if the coach is good for a team like Pirates or not.”
Riveiro’s next test is Wednesday’s trip to Chatsworth Stadium where the Buccaneers face tricky Royal AM.
Failing to pick up maximum points is likely to see Pirates’ demanding fans raising more questions about the coach’s capability to lead the club.
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