Cape Town - Kaizer Chiefs head coach Ernst Middendorp on Wednesday advised Orlando Pirates interim coach Rulani Mokwena to build his own reputation as a coach and not copy and paste other philosophies.
The two sides are set to face-off in a Soweto derby in the quarter-final stage of the Telkom Knockout on Saturday with their current form in stark contrast.
Mokwena has often pointed to world-class coaches such as Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola as an inspiration.
But the 61-year-old German who has guided Amakhosi to the top of the Absa Premiership standings advised Mokwena to follow his own path as a head coach.
"He will find this out over the years, build up your reputation," Middendorp told journalists. "It doesn’t matter if you have a reputation for being a stubborn coach or a very serious one.
"But produce a reputation. This is what I always say to coaches is that don’t try to copy, don’t try to paste. Just be yourself and see what you have to do.
"This is not done by you being in charge of a team for two months, it is done over the years. You win you lose, you lose, you lose. It's more like that and then you produce something."
Middendorp refused to criticise the 34-year-old's start to life as a head coach with the Buccaneers languishing in 8th position on the log - with 12 points from 9 games played - 10 points behind leaders Chiefs.
"This question I will basically not answer it because I have not worked with him," Middendorp said.
"I haven't seen him being responsible for the team over a certain period. But I think it's good that clubs have the idea to bring coaches in with different ideas.".
Kick-off is at 15:00.