Ouaddou is a breath of fresh air!

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou continues to entrench his name in the hearts of the club's faithful, as well as South African football supporters in general, because of the good work that he has been doing since joining the Buccaneers at the beginning of the season.

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His impact is not only felt or seen by his club's supporters but even the hard-to-please critics and pundits attest to the work done by the former Rennes defender.

The 1.91-metre-tall former international player had his work cut out when he came back to South Africa to join Bucs, who had become cup specialists, dominating the domestic cup space under the tutelage of Jose Riveiro. Interestingly, just like coach Ouaddou now, coach Riveiro became the darling of South African football. It was always going to be tough to fill those shoes even though the Moroccan coach's shoe size is bigger than that of Jose. To comprehend the impact this towering figure has had since joining Ezimnyama, you will have to look back to his time at Marumo Gallants in his first-ever stint in the country, and see how quickly he transformed that side, beating, ironically, the same Bucs in his first game in charge. The tactical organisation that we saw in his team was superb and a marvel to watch. He has since continued to do the same at Pirates, but just as was the case with coach Riveiro, there were several 'doubting Thomases' and naysayers and his start to his Bucs tenure didn't help his cause either. He lost his first two league games and at some point saw Bucs languishing in the relegation zone.