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Triumphant Orlando Pirates DStv Diski Challenge (DDC) coach Roscoe Krieling is thankful to the club for saving his coaching career, revealing how he nearly quit football to run a coffee shop with his partner in Durban.
The Cape Town-born Krieling, 42, guided Pirates to their maiden DDC title when they outwit rivals Mamelodi Sundowns 2-0 at a packed Dobsonville Stadium on the last day of the DDC season on Saturday. It’s Krieling’s second DDC title after winning it with the now-defunct SuperSport United in the 2022/23 season.
“Thank you [to the Pirates chairman, Irvin Khoza] for trusting me. I almost walked away from coaching. After the SuperSport sale to Siwelele, I decided not to go to Siwelele, I resigned,” said an emotional Krieling.
“The decision was to go and help my partner run a coffee shop and we were going to go to Durban and run a coffee shop. All of a sudden I got a phone call from the chairman, telling me that they were interested in me and I couldn’t say no to that opportunity.”
Krieling felt as if he wasn’t getting that big break in coaching.
“I’ve coached for almost 25 years now ... Sometimes you get to a point where you feel you push but you just don’t get that chance and you just say, ‘ag, I’ve seen enough.’ Twenty-five years is a long time. I’ve been coaching since I was 16, coaching young kids.”
One thing I realised when I joined Pirates was that the team was a bunch of talented youngsters, but they knew that I demanded hard work because talent alone is never enough
— Roscoe Krieling
Krieling joined Pirates at the start of the season, replacing club legend Joseph “Dukuduku” Makhanya. Krieling prides himself as a good manager of players, explaining how he transformed Pirates into a championship winning side.
“One of my strengths is man-management of players. One thing I realised when I joined Pirates was that the team was a bunch of talented youngsters, but they knew that I demanded hard work because talent alone is never enough.
“I want to build teams and I can say that I’ve achieved that with this team because there’s brotherhood and everyone is willing to fight for the team.”
Krieling wishes to see his troops being promoted to the senior side, saying they had outgrown the DDC level. The Bucs reserves trainer knows that not everyone will be promoted, saying those who won’t be going into the first team should be loaned out.
“It’s been good to see the boys grow. I’d want to see these boys go to the first team, trying to get opportunities there. They shouldn’t be playing DDC again ... If some don’t go to the first team, they need to go out on loan and expose themselves to a higher level because they’ve surpassed the DDC level.”
Sowetan
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