🇩🇪🔥 Josef Zinnbauer: Passion that flows effortlessly through his veins

​"I was very impressed when I landed here (South Africa). It was above and beyond my imagination."

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Schwandorf is a beautiful town on the river Naab in the Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany and that is where Josef Zinnbauer was born 49 years ago, where he was to grow up and eventually become a footballer, though his journey was cut short.

"I was growing up in Schwandorf, yeah, and then I was staying there until some years ago and then made the move to Bamberg": Bamberg is known for its special beer and many local breweries and beer gardens. The most famous of Bamberg's breweries is the historic smoked beer brewery, Schlenkerla. This 6th-generation family brewery has been quenching thirst since 1405 and still taps beer the old-world way – from wooden barrels. (sounds like the place to be really).

Zinnbauer was to eventually kickstart his senior career at the age of 18 playing for FV Wendelstein where he spent a season and then moved on to SV Gottingen 07 in the Bundesliga at the time and played for a string of club thereafter - one notable club he played for was FSV Mainz 05, yet another season spent; that seemed to have been the pattern in his playing career.

"I started in Schwandorf, from there I went to Wendelstein, this was my junior team. Then I was 18 years, I went to Gottingen, from Gottingen I went to Vestenbergsgreuth, in the second division in Germany.

"And this was my thing, I started before with football, but this just a better club, I grow up in a better club. I went to Gottingen, this was my first division, then I have a lot of clubs,"  he told The L.A Dosage.

"From this club I went to Bamberg, from Bamberg to Bayreuth, Bayreuth to SSV Ulm 1846. From SSV Ulm I went to Karlsruher, from Karlsruher I went to Mainz, from Mainz I went to Weisman, from SC Weisman to Regensburg and it just carried on from there."

However, it was not meant to be for Zinnbauer who was 26-year-old at the time after he sustained a cartilage injury and he lost the contract as the injury would affect his football despite recovering from it: "I was 26, then I take it in the 1^st division again, but then it’s no more possible. Then I stopped the career, then I started my training career at Sk Lauf, I started, then I go back to Wendelstein to my junior team in my home town, then I go to Henger, (indecipherable) Henger. Then I started, I have success a little bit in the small clubs, then I got to VfB Oldenburg, it’s my first club of interest for my training station. Then I was 5 years there, then I win two times the championships and two times second place, then I did my coaching licences and got a job at Karlsruher. I worked there a few years maybe, then I go to Hamburger in the second team," he said

Zinnbauer, of course, spent most of his playing and coaching in Germany and it was basically a place of comfortable and in 2015 it was time for a change - Switzerland was to be his next destination. Of course, it is still in Europe but everything was going to be new for the coach but he was determined to make it work and get comfortable in his new role and experience the Swiss culture at the same time.

"Yeah, the first experience (coaching) was in Germany, then I get a call from the club from Switzerland, then I thought Switzerland, it’s not football normal, so we say in Germany, so it’s not the best of football but I have watched their games. I saw in the games was very good players on the pitch. Then I spoke to the club I said okay I visit the club, then I was two days in Switzerland in St Gallen. Then I saw a fantastic stadium, I saw a fantastic team, I saw good supporters and compared to Switzerland yeah, it not so big, big fans normal but they have 50 000 people in the stadium, and then I was very impressed. Then I signed a contract for 3 years.

Three-year contract? Surely it would be enough time for him to see the vast differences between the football he was used to in Germany (playing and coaching) to that of Swiss football and how difficult was it for him to adapt? According to the 49-year-old: "Yeah, I think it was the conditioning - it's more in Germany and the team tactics, the system that they play, but if they had top players it will help yes, and it’s a small country so the good players end up going to other countries and it is normal. It’s also not so easy for Switzerland players; they grow up in this setup and need to be prepared that clubs will eventually sell - it's always the very good players who go quick. Then it’s not so easy for the coaches to improve the old team or the football in Switzerland, but they have at the moment top players so it's working okay," he told The L.A Dosage.

Furthermore, like every other job in this world, there always has to be a fair share of challenges and what did the German tactician experience you might ask: "Switzerland my challenge was that he wanted young players in the team, young players from their own club, people up in the first team, and this way my target, and yes in this time we may be building 4/5 players in the first team. This was a good job it was not a problem, then we got third place for European qualifications, and it’s normal for supporters to want to go to Europe because of the target is young players. It wasn’t so clear for the next step, we needed more time, but in football, you haven’t got time. You have to keep moving and adapting to the times - that is how you learn I suppose."

After three years at the helm of St Gallen it was time for Zinnbauer to bid farewell and onto the next challenge as coaches and players alike do - he would leave the club after 63 games in charge; 19 wins, 14 draws and 30 losses all in which he secured a win percentage of 30,16%. Where to for Zinnbauer from here before he makes the move to South Africa - yet another challenge, Zinnbauer said: "Well I had to wait now after St Gallen. Yeah, I had a few offers, but it was not what I wanted at the time. That’s what I can have, I was in a lot of countries in a lot of clubs, maybe 8 so we discussed the situation. But this is not the things that exist. That what I want, I get nothing," he said.

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This was rather interesting because no one knew who Josef Zinnbauer was and one would think it was a random appointment and now this somewhat unknown coach comes to a team like Orlando Pirates that was in desperate need of results at the time and fans are not necessarily forgiving especially when results are at stake. We all know the rivalry between Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, now don't we (nudge. .  nudge. . wink. .  wink).

So what did the man of the moment have to say about this move and better yet, how did it all come together?: First, Africa… I know that Pirates is a big club, and what people should know is that football fans know it here in Germany, it’s a really big club. And this is the experience from me, but I have no title and that is the first thing that the supporters would say. But this was so, and the club said to me make this, and I make this, and then we started and first it was not so easy when you read who Josef Zinnbauer is but yeah, we make a good performance and I think the supporters are not so bad at the moment.

"It was the agent (Mena Williams), the agent phoned me a lot of times before, he had other offers for me, but this was not possible for me, this country, I have no interest. But then he called me to give me the offer for Pirates and I think he did a good job; he really built up a good story about me and maybe he gives the good information’s for the club and then the club was interested to meet me. He met us and we build a good feeling.

"I had a good feeling, the club had a good feeling, and we had an agreement, but this was the first time they speak with me and were in contact. Then one week a later a call came and asked you have time because you have got the job? So that came very quickly.

On experiencing some sort of culture shock considering he has never been to Africa, to begin with: "No, I was very impressed. You have in your mind other things, but then when you go to Africa on the airport and out to the streets you say hey four streets in one way, in one direction, and I saw the buildings, it was very big, it was very nice and new and I say wow I have a good feeling about it. The weather is special for me, I love the sun," he said.

Zinnbauer felt that the Orlando Pirates team was well established upon his arrival and he wanted to meet everyone involved in the running of the club, and his aim was to bring some subtle changes without changing too much as he feels that could be a recipe for disaster.

"Yeah the dynamic of the team was important for me, the staff, then I come alone, and then I have an assistant coach also. I saw before 3 games from the squad, and this was important for me, I can work. I have a good chance with this team. So what I need was players, yeah and then I have talks with the players. Then find a little system that we do, and we don’t change a lot of things. The little things that we do, I think the coaches before was not so bad, but the team was good improved, good conditionings, then change a little bit of the mind, change a little bit of the system.

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Do you feel the changes you’ve made, do you see them happening, and it’s becoming successful for you?" Yeah we have the results for this and the feeling the players want is “yeah give me more input, give me more input to improve myself, and that’s wonderful for us. We have a lot of good individual players, but now we have a unit with the ball and without the ball, and I think that was the trick that we have, we work with the ball together and we work without the ball together. Now we have a big squad and we are a unit, so we have no problems with groups or with a guy in the squad. No, we are a unit and we win together and lose together, and we have fun in the training sessions and we have fun in the game too. I think the supporters feel that the team is having fun and that result in winning games and that important. Fighting for a point or for a winning game.

One can definitely see that Zinnbauer is a passionate coach and that has slowly penetrated into the players. Of course, there are still a lot of changes to come as one needs a bit of time (even though football isn't really about time) to get the players to eventually understand the philosophy and tactics in hopes that it materialises on the pitch on matchday.

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Taking it back to when this interview was done (this was after the Soweto Derby on February 29), I asked Zinnbauer to give me a brief summary of the game after his side had lost 1-0 on the day, although surprisingly, he didn't seem very upset about it and took it in his stride. Perhaps its matter of still trying to understand the emotions behind the Soweto Derby especially it's capacity and not forgetting how the opposition fans (Chiefs) can really dominate the stadium even if it is not their home game.

"Yeah, it’s not so easy in the game today, it’s a special game it’s the derby the game, and it’s normal that you won’t win the game, and you cannot say that if you play against Kaizer chiefs it’s easy, it’s the best team at the moment in the league. This is special things you cannot say, we have top performance now, but I think it was a little better than Keizer Chiefs. We have more chance, we have more ball possessions, and then when you open the game and you need a goal it’s not so easy, you open the door for contact. I think I am happy about the performance, but I’m happy not for the results today, and then we have maybe 10 weeks here now or so. Because we have Christmas break we cannot work, and it's maybe 7 or 8 weeks that we can work together with the squad and it’s not a long time for a football coach or for a team, or to build self-confidence in your team, in your system and your offence and your defence, and I think it’s been improved step by step and we make a better and better performance and I’m happy about this," Zinnbauer said at the time. 

As we wrapped the interview due to time constraints, I asked the coach about his goals and what he hopes to achieve at the end of the season: "More defence, more build-ups, more penetrations more goals, this is what we do, we improve the whole team, we improve the staff, and this is what we want. We want success, we look always from one game to the next game, we have 8 and now we do our best and we and we get so many points as what is possible and then we have to look what is the squad for next year. We have a lot of players at the moment who have an interest in our clubs," Zinnbauer concluded.