Palacios should be the one to assist us with his experience and knowledge, says Khoza

ORLANDO PIRATES’ chairman, Irvin Khoza, admitted that the club has problems, which he hopes to get to the root of by meeting with the players and the technical team. The Buccaneers’ problems were amplified by the 6-0 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. Angry Pirates’ fans stormed the field and tried to attack their own players. Violent clashes ensued after Sundowns’ fans blocked their access to the change rooms, resulting in 13 fans being taken to hospital.

Khoza condemned the behaviour of Pirates’ fans, promising that the club will work with the police in their investigation. While that investigation happens, Khoza will be conducting his own to try to get to the bottom of the club’s shambolic season. The Buccaneers lost to SuperSport United 6-1 in November, before Sundowns handed them their biggest defeat.

“There is no denying that there is a problem,” Khoza said.

The chairman met with the technical team yesterday and will meet with the players today.

Those meetings should go a long way in smoothing things over before the club announces the coach who will take over from Augusto Palacios on Monday.

That coach will not be the club’s first choice. The man they wanted to hire in January has a buy-out clause that put Pirates off. The next coach has a lot of work to do, transforming a team that was once back-to-back league champions but now they are chumps. Palacios said the problem was that the current group of players lacked passion, arguing that they play for a pay-cheque rather than for the Pirates’ badge. That claim doesn’t sit well with Khoza.

“If you are a Professor (like Palacios is called), that means that there is no problem above you,” Khoza said.

“I am disappointed if ever he is punting that narrative because he should be the one assisting us with his experience and knowledge of the game.

“He should give us factors that will Soccer writer RODNEY REINERS says: We are, again, in the midst of another shameful episode in the annals of South African football thanks to a section of Orlando Pirates fans who engaged in an orgy of violence and destruction after storming the Loftus pitch on Saturday. But, you know what, let’s not talk about the reckless, violent hooliganism of frustrated Buccaneers supporters. Let’s not gloat about the fact that this was a disaster waiting to happen. Let’s not scrutinise the inadequate security plan for the high-profile fixture. Let’s not discuss Pirates’ disdainful treatment of coaches over the years. Let’s not even ponder the current situation, in which a clearly overwhelmed caretaker-coach was kept in position for far too long. Let’s not prattle on about the arrogance of football officials who sit in their ivory towers while the sport burns. Let’s not highlight the insouciant treatment of supporters because football is more concerned with television revenue and raking in the cash from ignorant sponsors. Let’s not remind the PSL about the 2001 Ellis Park disaster where 43 people were killed. Let’s not explore the general lack of sportsmanship and intolerance that characterise us as a nation. Let’s not delve into the dialogue that this violence is just an extension of a wider, decaying South African society. Let’s not even suggest that this country is simply reaping what it has sowed. No, none of that Let’s instead confront the elephant in the room. As long as the PSL is run by club bosses, this is a situation that will perpetuate itself. Essentially, the clubs police themselves. Pirates have been a regular culprit with regard to fan troubles but, hey, what the heck, the Soweto club’s boss is the chairman of the PSL. You can expect that Pirates will again be given just a little slap on the wrist and things will continue as before. In a nutshell, it’s a despairing, melancholic metaphor of modern-day South Africa. assist us. If you start punting other reasons (for why the team isn’t doing well), you are taking the focus away from yourself.

“We will end up auditing you also because as a coach, that’s your responsibility to assist us (in improving as a club) because you are an insider.

“You have been there for some time. So go and help us because you are clued up on the players, don’t give us reasons that will maybe show us your short-comings. I don’t buy that one. It’s a nice easy way (out) for him.”

The club’s woes have been made worse by the fact that this year Pirates turn 80. But so far the club hasn’t given their fans anything to celebrate.

The Buccaneers are closer to the bottom than the leading pack in the Absa Premiership. They crashed out in the first round of the MTN8 and in the semifinal of the Telkom Knockout. It’s a huge contrast to how they celebrated their 75th anniversary in 2012, completing a back-to-back domestic treble.

“Maybe this is a time for reflection,” Khoza said. “I have learned in my life that when you are faced with trials and tribulations, what’s important is what lesson are you learning? Challenges give you self-correction. There is a positive in what has happened. It has given us a chance to do some self-introspection. Sometimes we are lenient on ourselves. Maybe this being our 80th anniversary has given us a chance to reflect. That’s why I can’t bury my head in the sand and ask why me? We need to look at the corrective measures that need to be taken to move forward.” STORMERS wing Leolin Zas will not be able to run with a rugby ball the whole year, but he says the support of his “girlfriend, the fans and his teammates” will help him deal with the disappointment.

Zas underwent successful surgery yesterday on a broken leg, after fracturing both his tibia and fibula in a pre-season game against the Lions on Saturday.

And despite the fact that he won’t enjoy any Super Rugby or Currie Cup action this year, the 21-year-old remained positive.

“It has obviously been a difficult experience, but the operation was a success and with the support of my family, my girlfriend Micaela Flusk, my teammates and our fans I am confident I can come back stronger,” Zas said.

Zas, who recently returned from an unrelated leg injury, came on as a replacement in the Stormers’ 57-40 thumping of the Lions at Newlands, and is expected to be out for a year.

The other Stormers casualty on the day was centre and last year’s co-captain Juan de Jongh, who tore his medial collateral ligament and will spend 10-12 weeks on the sidelines.

The injury to Zas, who was a key player in the Stormers’ Super Rugby campaign last year as he featured in almost all of their games, has underlined the importance of the Stormers signing Sevens go-to man Seabelo Senatla.

The World Sevens Player of the Year has committed to the Robbie Fleck’s team, and will be a significant boost for the union, while Werner Kok and Dillyn Leyds will also be on the Stormers’ backline roster.

Then there is new signing and former Bulls man Bjorn Basson who can also be an option on the wing.

Senatla, who was given a “mental break” from rugby by Fleck, has returned to South Africa since the Blitzboks’ triumph in Sydney, will be available for the season-opener against the Bulls at Newlands.

In midfield Fleck will have Damian de Allende, fit-again Dan du Plessis and Scottish international Huw Jones, while EW Viljoen has also produced promising performances for the Stormers.

And although the options that the Stormers have at wing and centre are more than competent, it doesn’t mean that the loss of Zas, and for a shorter period De Jongh, is any less of a setback.

But seeing that Zas is so positive despite suffering an injury that would leave any man negative, there’s no reason for the Newlands faithful to be get all gloomy. After all, he did say he was going to come back stronger.