He remin ds me of Gift Leremi
On Pirates’ n ew sign in gs
Since my retirement from professional football, I’ve never stopped watching Orlando Pirates matches because I consider myself one of the club’s most loyal supporters. Pirates have been doing well this season and with the new players that they have signed, I’m sure they will continue to do so. Rele (Relebohile Mofokeng) came from the club’s development and reminds me of Joseph Makhanya and Lebohang Mokoena. If you recall, when I was playing for the club, we used to get a lot of players from our development and now there’s one or sometimes two that get promoted. Plus, the ones that are there are doing well. The team is doing well, even though there are ups and downs. This season, we have won the MTN8 and now there is the Nedbank Cup to compete for, but challenging for the league title is difficult because there is a club that owns the league. The league is always a tough competition because if you want to win it, you must collect points when the season starts. Mamelodi Sundowns collect points very early in the season and win it in the end. But this Pirates team is doing well and it’s just here and there where we are lacking. Sometimes you find that the team is doing well and the coach (Jose Riveiro) will make changes, and we can’t blame him because there are also issues regarding injuries. I’m also impressed with Patrick Maswanganyi, who joined at the beginning of the season. The boy has adapted well. Rele is young and I never thought he would adjust so easy. What makes Rele special is that he is not afraid to get into the thick of things. When players are promoted to the senior team sometimes, they tend to get afraid, but that is not the case with Rele. He wants to make the team play and is very brave for his age. Whenever he plays, he makes things happen. He plays very simple, dribbles one player and passes the ball. He doesn’t complicate things. This shows that the coach that previously worked with him (Makhanya) is someone who understands Pirates. They play similar. During Makhanya’s days as a player, he used to dribble one player and hit a cross, and I think Rele plays like that as well. He also reminds me of the late Gift Leremi. That generation of Leremi, Mokoena and Makhanya was special. “Cheeseboy” picked up three Man of the Match awards after getting promoted because he was a special player. During his first Soweto Derby against Kaizer Chiefs, he was still at school but was showing signs of greatness. Mofokeng reminds me of that. He received great training from Makhanya. Thabiso Lebitso is a hard worker and will add a lot into the team. He has been so consistent this season.
On w hat it takes to succeed at the club
Orlando Pirates is one of the biggest clubs in the country and if the singings want to succeed, the new players must not change their style of play. If Pirates signs you, that is because they value you and your style of play. At Pirates, you must also be consistent and always give 100 percent. You can’t say last week I played well and this week I can relax. You can’t do that. You have to make sure you are consistent because there is a lot of competition in the team and if you are not playing well, another player will take your place. When you come to Pirates, you must perform. Give 100 percent performances in every game.
Play your normal game and don’t change your style of play. If you used to take shots at goal at your previous club, that is what you must do when you join Pirates. The reason why the club bought you is because they were impressed by what you were doing at your previous club. That is what I learned from Augusto Palacios and the chairman (Dr. Irvin Khoza) when I joined. Never change your style. They must also make sure that they don’t stop working hard because the expectations from the supporters are very high. Do extra training because Pirates is not an ordinary team. Supporters are hard to please and I know that players will be off-form at times, but never stop giving 100 percent. At Pirates, you can’t walk on the field, you must always run. That is what will be required from the new guys.
On the return of Mabasa from loan
Tshegofatso Mabasa has always been one of my favourite strikers in the league, but football is all about luck. When he was at Pirates before he left, he scored important goals. Sometimes he would come off the bench and still score goals, and then they started benching him and you know when you don’t play, your confidence will drop. I think that is what killed him – his confidence was very low and when he received opportunities to play, his confidence would be low. He went to Moroka Swallows, scored goals and now he is back at Pirates. He must continue where he left off at Swallows. Tshegofatso’s job is to score goals, that is what he did before he left, that is what he did at Swallows and that is what he will do now at Pirates. He must grab this opportunity with both hands and hopefully learn from his previous mistakes that if he doesn’t play, he must not lose his confidence. At Pirates, when the coach tells you to come in, you must always be ready. The two strikers that he will be competing with, Evidence Makgopa and Zakhele Lepasa, were selected to the national team that went to the Africa Cup of Nations. That tells you that he must work extra hard because he will be competing with two international players. Competing against Lepasa and Makgopa is going to be hard for him and he must work hard to get his place in the team. He must do extra training and not wait for the coach to tell him to do this and do that. Do all those things before the coach even tells you. Come to training early, work on your finishing. After training, stay behind and work on your finishing. At Pirates, it is all about competition and if you don’t deliver, you will leave.
On the departure of Lorch to Sun dow n s
Thembinkosi Lorch has left for Mamelodi Sundowns and as a supporter, I’ve learnt that don’t support a player, support the team. Players come and go. If you support Lucky Lekgwathi, you must know that one day he will leave, and that is what I was told when I joined. When I was a player, we had our star player Benedict Vilakazi, who left for Europe and when he came back, he joined Sundowns. We had Teko Modise, who used to play so well for us, but he left us and joined Sundowns. We still continued to win the treble. The late Gift Leremi was our star player as well and he left to join Sundowns. Supporters must always support the team, not the player. When the club signs your favourite player and you buy his jersey, when that player leaves, you will be hurt. Support the team and not the player because players will come and go. Even if they don’t get transferred, at some point they will have to retire. If you look at Pirates this season, when Lorch was injured, the team was still doing well and that shows you that someone who came in his place did a good job. Players like Maswanganyi played well. Rele also showed his true colours and now is an even greater opportunity for him to prove himself. Lorch is no longer with the team and Rele must grab this opportunity with both hands. When the coach says you must play, you must go in and own the place. This is football, players come and go. I remember when Teko left, we started a new combination between Oupa Manyisa and Andile Jali. Tlou Segolela and Daine Klate also came in, and all those players knew that it was an opportunity and they did well because they were hungry. They grabbed it with both hands.
Lucky Lekgwathi, Former Orlando Pirates defender