Johannesburg — Up the Bucs, right now, has come true in quite the literal sense, which might be a surprise to many.
One man who will be quite pleased with the opening season success of Orlando Pirates, no doubt, is coach Jose Riveiro, who must be finding this coaching in the PSL business quite pleasing, even though he tried to remain diplomatic about it on Thursday.
After beating Marumo Gallanst 1-0 on Wednesday night, the Buccaneers top the DStv Premiership standings after five matches with 11 points, leading the trio of Mamelodi Sundowns, AmaZulu and Royal Am by one point.
“The fact that we are on top is not only about us, it is about all the results,” said Riveiro from the PSL HQ in Johannesburg. “In the end we have collected 11 points so far. I would like to have had at least three more points.
“I am not thinking of being second, third, fourth or first at this moment, I would rather have liked to have had more points … That will be the objective that we will have at the beginning of September – to collect as many points as possible.
“We just arrived a few weeks ago,” Riveiro added, referring to the new management structure that has taken over at the Sea Robbers at the beginning of this season.
“It is a new process, a new coaching staff and some new players and we need to get early wins like we are trying to do, and we are getting in order to find the proper environment, the proper context for the team to grow.
“We are going to be a much better team in two or three months. The way that the guys are training and are facing every idea and every proposal, makes me feel very positive and optimistic about the future.”
Riveiro and Co will now turn their attention to a MTN8 quarter-final meeting on Saturday against Royal AM (kick-off 6pm), which will present this newly-minted operation its first true opportunity to build towards early silverware.
But once again, Riveiro tempered expectations and remained pragmatic about his team's chances.
“It’s four games to have a chance to get a trophy, so we are going to try and make the first step but I am not thinking about the semi-finals or beyond ...
“We have to do a good job on Saturday. If we have a bad day there, then we are out ...
“I am not thinking of the possibility of winning trophies.
"We all have dreams and wishes but we must focus on the facts and the facts are, we must beat Royal Am to continue the competition and then we can dream of that possibility. If we have the right and if we deserve to be there (in the MTN8 final), we have to do it on Saturday first.”
Nevertheless, Pirates will feel they have the psychological edge over their opponents this weekend – earlier this month they beat Thwihli Thwahla 1-0 away at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
IOL Sport