Abdeslam Ouaddou sends message to his doubters after surprise appointment as Orlando Pirates coach - 'I am a bit confused when it comes to experience and competency'

Orlando Pirates made a surprise appointment of Adbeslam Ouaddou as their new head coach in June.

He arrived at the Buccaneers with a 12-game experience of Premier Soccer League football from his brief stint as Marumo Gallants coach.

His coaching career has yielded the Coupe du Congo as the only major trophy in his coaching career and he won it with AS Vita in 2024.

That has sparked doubt from some quarters and the former Morocco centre-back responds to his critics.

“People can say, ‘This coach, what did he win?, he’s not experienced and how can he coach such a big club?’. But I believe more in the competency than experience,” Ouaddou said as per FARPost. 

“You can have someone who has been coaching for the past 20 years but didn’t win anything. But on the other hand, you can have a young coach with competency, but he’s starving; he wants to win. 

"At the same time, you can have a player in your team who has 15 years of experience but didn’t win any trophies. But you can have a 16-year-old with fantastic qualities who can make you win the league," added the former Fulham defender. 

“What are you going to do? Will you choose the experienced one? So, I’m a bit confused when it comes to experience and competency.”

Ouaddou would be relishing silencing his doubters in the same fashion as his predecessor Jose Riveiro did.

Riveiro arrived at Pirates as an unknown coach with no experience of coaching on Africa and a CV not decorated with trophies and he was referred to as a "plumber."

But he managed to endear himself into the hearts of South African football followers after helping the Buccaneers win five Cup finals as well as reaching the CAF Champions League semi-finals.

Ouaddou has already begun his job as Pirates coach and is preparing to go to Spain with his team for pre-season training.

He is also busy with transfers and the Soweto giants have so far signed 10 new players.