Micho: Our players do respect fans
MILUTIN ‘MICHO’ SREDOJEVIC has made a heartfelt appeal to Orlando Pirates supporters to be patient and understand that the team is not made up of supermen.
Speaking just after the Buccanneers had registered their second PSL win – a 2-1 defeat of Black Leopards in Polokwane – of the season following back-to-back defeats, the Pirates coach stopped short of begging The Ghost to stop harassing their players.
The match was marred by striker Thamsanqa Gabuza’s angry goal celebration that saw him throw his top into the crowd before storming off towards the dressing-room some 11 minutes before halftime. He returned to the bench after the break with heavy strapping, but referee Thando Ndzandzeka duly sent him off for two bookable offences – taking his shirt off in celebration and leaving the field without permission.
Describing the incident as the first he has ever seen in his many years of coaching, Sredojevic – who had tried to reprimand Gabuza for his angry reaction towards the fans – was at pains trying to make excuses for the player.
“First of all, we have the highest degree of respect towards our supporters. They are the point of our existence; the spiritual owners of this team; this team belongs to them. And having that in mind, I want to inform them that it is not easy to be this side, to be a coach or to be a player. The demands are the highest possible. We are not superman, we are just human and in that regard we ask for a bit more patience, a bit more support to the team would be very much welcome,” he pleaded during a post-match interview at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.
“However, they need to know that when they put more pressure on certain players and on the team, the legs are locked and then those locked legs bring mistakes. They miss chances and they bring anxiety and other related issues that means we are not converting what we are supposed to. We believe they should be more patient and give us more support and we shall do anything for them. We could do much better and we will do much better.”
The fans’ impatience clearly got the better of Gabuza though, as he angrily lashed out at them after his attempted cross was deflected into goal by Leopards’ Thivhavhudzi Ndou.
“Our players have given everything, respecting the jersey, respecting the history and respecting the supporters on the field and off it,” Sredojevic said.