Kjell wants a serious sit-down

KJELL JONEVRET admits he’s not a psychologist.

However, the Swedish Orlando Pirates coach stated that he really needs to have a proper sit-down with all of his players and get them to open up about what was a disastrous 2016/17 season for them.

The Sea Robbers finished outside of the top eight, while also failing to win silverware.

Jonevret, who’s been working with the side for the past week and a half leading up to the new campaign, said it is vital that they go through the detail of what really went wrong, and also identify what areas they really need to improve on.

“It’s not easy,” Jonevret said. “There’ still a lot of work that needs to be done though, and I just hope that they put this past season behind them and are now looking forward to the new campaign.

“We’ve been having individual talks with most of the players already,” Jonevret added. “We’ve spoken to almost 80% of the club as we speak.

“We are planning to go on a camp where I believe we’ll have the perfect time to work on... things (and let players open up a bit more).”

Meanwhile Pirates have acquired the services of Nigerian striker Christopher Obiozor, Musa Nyatama, Thamsanqa Sangweni and former Mamelodi Sundowns shot-stopper Wayne Sandilands.

It is in these players that Jonevret hopes his side will have some form of luck, with their curtain-raiser against Kaizer Chiefs in a Carling Black Label Champion Cup this Saturday at FNB Stadium first up.

“When I first heard about the (Carling Cup concept) I was like: ‘What? What is that?’” said a smiling Jonevret. “But then again, I thought about it and I believe it should be a very interesting experience (for me). Both teams are going to play with more or less the same type of players, maybe with a different type formation, but still, it should be interesting.

“With regards to the new signings,” Jonevret added: “I’ve only had a few days to work with them and so it’s very difficult to (give a proper assessment on each of them). I have seen Wayne play though and I believe that he’s a pretty decent goalkeeper. I haven’t seen much of our new striker Chris, only the few clips I have watched. I’ve seen Sangweni as well when he was with his former side, and I liked him very much there. I believe that these are the players the club can have a whole lot of use of, going into the new season.”