Van Gaal’s head on block Bucs may sail into 29-year fall
Cup loss to prove costly
ORLANDO Pirates face their worst league finish in 29 years unless they get a point in tomorrow’s crucial final match of the Premier Soccer League season at home to SuperSport United.
Nelson Mandela was still unjustly imprisoned, there was no internet and Michael Jackson was about to release the album Bad, the last time Pirates missed out on a top-eight place, something that remains a very real possibility this campaign.
A defeat to SuperSport, coupled with a point for Lamontville Golden Arrows at lowly University of Pretoria, will see Pirates slip to ninth, the first time they have not had a top-half finish since 1987.
The circumstances of then and now are very different though.
The Pirates of 2016 is a successful multi-million-rand business, but back in the mid-1980s, it was a club in turmoil, as battles for control of the boardroom raged.
Pirates escaped relegation by a single point in 1985 after winning only five of their 34 matches and the next season they ended 13th in the National Soccer League.
Fortunes turned slowly for the side as they managed to complete the 1987 campaign with an 11thplace finish, the last time they finished in the lower half.
They missed out on the championship by four points in 1988 and the following year ended second as the club’s revival gathered pace.
Should they finish ninth in the league this season, it would not only be an embarrassment for the club, but a potentially costly failure as it means they would miss out on the MTN8 competition, where the winner gets to pocket R8-million in prize-money – the richest winnings available in the three domestic cup competitions.
MANCHESTER United manager Louis van Gaal goes into the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace tomorrow facing echoes of the 1990 showpiece between the two sides that proved so pivotal in the career of Alex Ferguson.
Ferguson’s United were struggling in the 1989-90 season and the clamour was growing for the manager’s dismissal, but the FA Cup win in a replay over Palace gave the Scotsman a reprieve.
He went on to build a dynasty that won 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League trophies, alongside a host of domestic cups.
Van Gaal, who took charge in May 2014 and guided United to fourth in his first season, is under similar pressure after his side finished fifth in the Premier League and dropped out of the Champions League in the group stages.
The 64-year-old was booed by some fans during his endof-season speech after Tuesday’s final 3-1 win over Bournemouth at Old Trafford.
Speculation is rife over his future, but the former Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager is adamant he will remain, irrespective of what happens at Wembley. “Yes, because I have signed a three-year contract,” he told reporters.
Van Gaal understands the fans’ disappointment, but says they should be realistic as United chase their first FA Cup title since 2004 and their first major trophy since the 2013 Premier League.
“The expectation is very high. Too high. We are a team in transition,” said Van Gaal. “I have tried to explain that. We didn’t reach our aim. We have to qualify for the Champions League.”
Crystal Palace, who finished the Premier League five points above the relegation zone, are in the final for the first time since losing the 1990 replay 1-0 following a 3-3 draw in the first match.
“I remember Sir Alex’s career hinged on that game and maybe LVG’s career will hinge on this,” said Palace boss Alan Pardew, who played for Palace in the final 26 years ago. — Reuters