New Orlando Pirates coach Abdelsam Ouaddou has stated he’s fully aware of the immense challenge he’s taken on by joining the Soweto Giants.

He also acknowledges the questions surrounding his credentials.

Ouaddou, who replaced the popular Jose Riveiro at Pirates last month, revealed he met with the club’s board five times during his interview process, a factor that has intensified the pressure on him to hit the ground running.

The Moroccan-born Frenchman’s appointment was a surprise move, especially given his brief stint with Marumo Gallants, which ended last season.

He steps into an Orlando Pirates side that achieved significant success under Riveiro, winning five trophies in three seasons. Riveiro also guided the club to three runner-up finishes behind Mamelodi Sundowns and a CAF Champions League semi-final appearance last season. With Pirates having come close to snatching the league title from Sundowns three times, Ouaddou will be expected to push them further.

“The most important thing is the results,” Ouaddou emphasized. “I know that when I come to such a big club, there’s a brand. We’re arriving in a process of five years, and people need trophies, they need results, so we know that. When we put our feet on the ground, we’re not crazy. We know where we are putting our feet. The board knows what they want.”

Competence Over Experience: Ouaddou’s Philosophy

Given the unexpected nature of his appointment, Ouaddou anticipates his credentials will be scrutinized, despite having won a league title with AS Vita Club in the 2023/24 season. This achievement notably surpasses Riveiro’s track record, who joined Pirates in 2022 without any prior trophy wins.

“I can understand, although I’m not watching too much or reading too much on social networks, and maybe I should,” he remarked. “Because it’s part of the new era, new society. But people might feel that, ‘Hey, this coach, what did he win? He’s not experienced; how can he coach such a big club?'”

Ouaddou champions the idea of competence over experience. “Even myself, I believe in competence versus experience. You can have someone who’s been coaching for 20 years but hasn’t won anything. But on the other side, you can have a young coach with competence who is starving to win, who wants to empower things. At the same time, you can have a player in your team with 15 years of experience who did nothing. But you can have a small kid — 16, 17, or 18 years old — who has fantastic qualities and can make you win the league. I’m a bit confused about experience versus competence.”

Embracing the “Good Pressure” at Orlando Pirates

The former Fulham defender continued, “What I can say is it’s a big challenge, and I feel it’s a well-organized club. We’ve arrived at the end of a previous phase, and they need to go forward. They did a fantastic job during the previous years, and we have to congratulate coach Riveiro, who had a fantastic personality, a gentleman, and he did a great job.”

“Thanks to the board that supported him, because we can see the strong vision. Maybe we are arriving at a five-year project, and they need victories, trophies, and I’m very ready for that.”

Addressing the inevitable pressure, Ouaddou sees it positively. “The pressure, if we speak about the pressure, of course there is pressure. You go out from your house, there is pressure. You go to make shopping, there is pressure, but it is a good pressure. It’s a fantastic pressure to be here with a fantastic fanbase and good players. I will have to try to make them happy, even though sometimes it won’t be easy.”