Restoring the House of Pirates
Restoring Bucs' House
Posted: 2010-03-03 09:51
Empires don’t just fall – they crumble ... brick by brick. Just ask Orlando Pirates.
Founded in 1937 in the dusty streets of Orlando East, Orlando Pirates is one of the oldest teams in the country and holds fond memories for many, but their celestial decline as a dominating force in South African football has been shocking.
Winners of the CAF Champions League in 1995, Pirates bombed out of the self-same tournament at the weekend when they crashed to little known and unfashionable Gaborone United, who are currently seventh in the Botswana Premier League.
The defeat at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium tells the story of the retrogression of South African football as a whole.
The goalless draw in Botswana a fortnight ago was shocking, no matter how you look at it; but throwing away a 2-0 lead with fives minutes remaining at home is the bitterest pill for any South African soccer lover worth his or her salt to swallow.
When the Sea Robbers ship was sunk by a spirited United on Sunday, Ruud Krol’s reign hit the tip of an iceberg.
Under Krol, the Buccaneers have taken 10 steps forward and 15 backwards. Their performance has been dogged by a perpetual problem - one associated with regular visits to the medical clinic. Small wonder they have not won any meaningful silverware in the past seven years.
WHAT HAS GONE WRONG?
One observation is that Pirates have operated in little islands of individuals and futile endeavour over the years. Some of the performances have been without bite, tactical coherence or even basic passing technique. They have continuously failed to give the impression that they are any closer to being a unified team.
Pirates have been battling to marry the warm romance of their history with the cold, unforgiving percentages of the modern game.
Granted, foreign coaches at Pirates – from Kosta Papic, the late Bibey Mutombo to Krol – have been trying to splice together the DNA of global and local football, but sometimes the result is an awkward, shuffling beast.
Sometimes you can over-complicate a calamity and avoid saying the obvious – which is that too many of Pirates’ supposedly glittering recent acquisitions (not signed by the coach but management) – are not good enough to wear the famous black and white shirt.
There is a fatal lack of pace in defence, where Lucky Lekgwathi, a right-footer, plays at left full-back. This while natural left-footed defender Innocent Mdledle was allowed to join rivals Mamelodi Sundowns.
Then there is the conundrum of who plays in midfield. With 10 midfielders fighting for three spaces, it is increasingly difficult for the coach to keep all the players happy. Why sign so many midfielders when you don’t have an out-and-out striker?
Terror Fanteni was signed with the hope that he will be the goalscoring machine, but he has spent most of his time on the treatment table, whilst raw strikers like Siphelele Mthembu, inexperienced Ndumiso Mabena and midfielder-turned-striker Katlego Mashego were tasked with finding the goals.
The result has been that no Pirates player has managed to score six goals – the same number as defender Morgan Gould has scored for reigning champions SuperSport United.
Last season Pirates’ top goalscorer was defender Lucas Thwala. If that doesn’t tell half the incredible story, then nothing will.
Krol was touted as the man who was to change the dynamics of the team, creating a hope that at some point in the future, Pirates would display the unity and the purpose that have been elusive for so long.
But like coaches before him, the former Dutch great is proving by the day to have no Plan B.
If there is any fibre of tactical sense in Krol’s decisions, it has been blown away by the damage inflicted by Gaborone United. Here is a team of part-timers, students and civil servants booting out a professional side with lots of sponsors and a monthly budget probably the size of the Botswana national league.
Indications are that Krol has reached a dead-end and the players are now just going through the emotions.
Pirates fans are monumentally sentimental, but they know their history and understand that eight years without a major trophy is unacceptable. That’s why the end is nigh for ‘Rudi Crawl Away’, as he is now known in some quarters.
SO WHERE IS THE SOLUTION?
He may not admit it, but Pirates’ powerful chairman Dr Irvin ‘Iron Duke’ Khoza’s work with the 2010 World Cup and Premier Soccer League (PSL) has diverted his attention from his core business, which is Orlando Pirates Football Club.
Khoza may argue that he has employed people to carry on the task, but the question needs to be asked: Are these people good enough to lead the team? Do they understand the mandate given?
I still maintain that since Zodwa Khoza passed away, Pirates have missed a person who has the passion and the heart to run this club that is steeped in South African soccer history.
‘Zo’ was not only a brand manager at Pirates, but a mother and sister to the likes of Gift Leremi, ‘Duku Duku’ Makhanya, Jimmy Tau and Lebohang Mokoena. There has been mention of young Nkosana Khoza as an up-and-coming soccer administrator with business acumen, but despite this, his qualities in football still remain in the shadows of his elder sister.
Many Bucs fans will be hoping that after the World Cup Khoza will bounce back, resume his number one job in football, and as chairman of Orlando Pirates lead them back to their glory days.
Another step in the right direction could be hiring a local coach. There is no doubt that most of the foreign coaches do not understand the culture of the game in this country, or even comprehend what it means to hold fort at a club like Pirates with its millions of supporters.
Kaizer Chiefs supremo Kaizer Motaung may have publicly stated that no South African coach is capable of leading big clubs like Pirates and Chiefs, but look at what a bona fide South African like Gavin Hunt has done at SuperSport United, and even Gordon Igesund, winning four League titles with four different teams.
If reports linking Bafana Bafana assistant coach Pitso Mosimane to Pirates next season are true, then the Buccaneers would do well to grab the opportunity with both hands. Pitso knows the culture of South African football like the back of his hand.
The allegations of interference and reports that club officials, like Floyd Mbele, are selecting the team for the coach is killing Pirates’ reputation.
Some former Bucs coaches have failed to come out and confirm the interference of certain officials at Pirates, but comments by Tebogo Moloi in an interviews in KICK OFF suggests that a third force might be involved in disrupting the technical team job at Pirates.
Another question being raised is who buys the players at Pirates? The answer is simple … if some of the comments by Krol are anything to go by, its management.
Indeed, the sooner management allows the coach to buy his players, the better. It would stop the team having a bloated squad with a large contingent of midfielders they don’t need and without a proven striker.
A soccer team is very different from a warehouse where you can store whatever tickles your fancy …
: 2010-03-03 21:01
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