Pirates to announce coach next Monday, says Khoza

Cape Town - Orlando Pirates chairperson Irvin Khoza has announced that the club will name their new head coach next Monday, February 20.

The Sowetan giants have been without permanent coach since the sudden departure of Muhsin Ertugral in November last year. The former Ajax Cape Town coach resigned from his post after a 6-1 defeat against SuperSport United.

Khoza has since entrusted Augusto Palacios on an interim basis to mentor the Absa Premiership side while the search for a new coach is in progress.

Almost five months later, the Buccaneers are sitting with a similar dilemma.

Pirates suffered a 6-0 defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday in a match which saw fans rush onto the field in anger.

Play was stopped in the 82nd minute for nearly an hour as disgruntled fans went on the rampage.

In light of the situation, Khoza revealed that a new coach has been found and the announcement will be made next week.

"This afternoon we'll be meeting with the technical team to get to the bottom of the problem. There's no denying there is a problem," Khoza said.

"It is not an easy task to find a coach for a team of the statue of Orlando Pirates Football Club. When we have found a coach, the pressure on them is enormous.

"There's a reason why when we lose a coach we look to an insider in an attempt to add stability until a replacement is found. It has worked in the past but has proven to be a challenge this time around.

"Unfortunately, the candidate identified for the head coach position is in contract at another team. We cannot therefore reveal any information at this stage. 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.

"We cannot therefore reveal any information at this stage, but what I can give guarantee to this meeting that next week Monday because of what has happened, we're going to be announcing the new coach," Khoza added.