Orlando Pirates head coach Josef Zinnbauer is unperturbed amidst the planned protest by the club's fans, but he understands their frustrations.
The Bucs fans, who is also known as the Ghost, are expected to march to the club's home ground, Orlando Stadium as they display their unhappiness with the team and also calling for Zinnbauer's dismissal.
This comes after Pirates were embarrassed by Moroccan champions Raja Casablanca, who thumped Bucs 4-0 on Sunday which saw the Soweto giants bow out of the Caf Confederation Cup after losing 5-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.
“Always around the world, you have some supporters who are upset after the defeats, and that’s normal. I can understand that,” Zinnbauer told the media.
“But you have the supporters who give you the positives. Don’t forget we won the [MTN8] title this season. We qualified for the Caf Confederation Cup group stages, and we were in the quarter-finals.
“You can say all the negative points. People don’t see the other side of what we went through this season during the Covid-19 pandemic. How many games have we had just now and how many injured players did we have?”
The German tactician ended the Buccaneers' six-year trophy drought when he guided the team to the 2020 MTN8 title triumph, but he admitted that he has made some mistakes which he hopes to rectify.
“You have to learn from these mistakes what you did as a coach and as a team and go forward. It’s all good when we get success," he continued.
The Ghost are planning to emulate their Kaizer Chiefs counterparts as Amakhosi fans recently marched to the club's headquarter-finals in Naturena to hand a memorandum to the management expressing their dissatisfaction with the team's poor performance in the PSL this term.
Zinnbauer, who joined the Buccaneers on a three-year deal in December 2019, explained that it is normal for fans to express their frustrations.
“It is not only in South Africa but it is also around the world. You look at England and Germany, it is happening. When you lose games, and the supporters get upset, it is normal," he concluded.
Pirates are set to face AmaZulu FC on Thursday as they look to keep their ambitions of finishing in the top two in the PSL alive with a win over Usuthu at Orlando Stadium.
