Harambee Stars Assistant Coach Picks His Favourite for Benni McCarthy-linked Orlando Pirates Job

Benni McCarthy's Harambee Stars goalkeeper trainer Moeneeb Josephs would not mind Stellenbosch's Steve Barker at Orlando Pirates. Photo: FKF Media

Harambee Stars Assistant Coach Picks His Favourite for Benni McCarthy-linked Orlando Pirates Job

Joel Omotto 15:02 - 25.04.2025

Harambee Stars goalkeeper trainer Moeneeb Josephs has weighed in on who should take over at South African giants Orlando Pirates where his boss Benni McCarthy is among those linked.

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy is among names that have been mentioned in relation to the soon-to-be vacant Orlando Pirates job.

Pirates are on the lookout for a new coach after their Spanish tactician Jose Riveiro announced that he will not renew his contract when it concludes at the end of the season and McCarthy is among South African trainers who have been linked to the job.

That is, however, unlikely to happen given the Bafana Bafana legend took over the Harambee Stars job last month and this sentiment is seemed to be backed by his assistant Moeneeb Josephs, who would like another South African coach hired by Pirates instead.

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“A coach who understands the culture, type of player and the youth and what the player needs,” Josephs said on SoccerBeat on the qualities the next Pirates coach should have.

Former Pirates midfielder Michael Morton then mentioned Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker, enumerating what he has achieved at the club where Kenyan defender Brian Mandela also plays.

“Steve Barker, somebody who has dealt with a very young squad at Stellenbosch and really produced incredible things with a very young squad and he has been unfortunate to the point a lot of his best players have been sold. At Pirates, he won’t experience that as much,” Morton told Josephs.

Who does Josephs want to see as next Pirates coach?

Moeneeb Josephs would not mind Steve Barker at Orlando Pirates. Photo: Stellenbosch FC

“I haven’t even thought of that but when you just brought that to my head now and automatically, mentally I start to see him. What he has done there [at Stellenbosch] he would be a good option,” Josephs chipped in, agreeing that Barker would be a suitable replacement.

“Look, he does not have amazing players but he builds strong teams. It is a team of youngsters, you can see there are a lot of youngsters in that team and he builds all those players. He does not get scared to use his youth,” added the former Pirates goalkeeper.

Josephs, who now works as Harambee Stars’ goalkeeper trainer, played for Pirates between 2008 and 2013, and was part of the team that won the club’s last league title in 2012, including McCarthy.

Riveiro has been lauded for transforming Pirates into a team now capable of challenging for titles both at home and on the continent while he has unearthed a number of young players who have been vital to their success this season.

McCarthy, as well as former Mamelodi Sundowns coaches Pitso Mosimane and Rhulani Mokwena, who both are out of work, have been mentioned as possible candidates for the Pirates job.