Pirates braced for the return
Have the Buccaneers recovered from the humiliating thumping that led to mayhem at Loftus in February?
SUPPORTING a team that shipped six goals in two matches in a matter of months must be an excruciating experience.
Spare a thought for the Ghost. Hug a Sea Robber near you because trudging a troubled terrain has been the wont of Orlando Pirates all season — one that threatens to be barren.
The 6-1 stuffing by SuperSport United was the low and, it was reasoned, was a revolt against the Muhsin Ertugral regime.
He resigned on TV. While beset by a bout of insomnia, he e-mailed a letter of resignation at the ungodly hour of 3.28am.
Club chairman Irvin Khoza released him, kicking the Turk into touch a mere five months into the gig. Come in Augusto Palacios, the perennial Fireman Sam of Pirates.
The highlight of his tenure as karateka kosh — that’s caretaker coach in Palacios’s stubborn Perunglish parlance — was not disastrous.
Its lowest point was the half-adozen hammering from the feet of Mamelodi Sundowns during the mayhem at Loftus. The season from hell stands in stark contrast to the cloud nine they were on when they clocked a treble to mark their 75 years of existence.
That six mabone (6-0) expedited Palacios’s exit and the entrance of incumbent Kjell Jonevret.
“This afternoon we will be meeting with the technical team to go to the bottom of the problem. There is no denying there is a problem,” Khoza said the Monday after the Saturday, February 11, mayhem.
He continued: “It is not an easy task to find a coach for a team of the stature of Orlando Pirates Football Club. When we have found the coach, the pressure on them is enormous.
“This is the reason why, when we lose a coach, we look to an insider in an attempt at stability until a replacement is found. It has worked in the past. It is proving to be a challenge this time around.”
When it worked in the past, insider Palacios presided over the defence of the league title, Pirates’ last in 2011/12 which was part of the double-treble gloss.
An outsider was found in Sweden and Jonevret was unveiled on February 20. He has steadied the ship. Pirates have lost only two of the 11 games since Jonevret started his Bucs journey. The rest of the report card paints not a rosy picture.
Three draws on the trot with a similar scoreline (1-1) against Polokwane City, Kaizer Chiefs and SuperSport United.
It is against the teams at the bottom end of the table where Bucs have flopped for the better part of the season. Free State Stars burst Jonevret’s bubble by beating Bucs 3-2.
That was followed by a four-match unbeaten run (Maritzburg United 2-0, 0-0 draws against cellar dwellers Highlands Park and fellow strugglers Baroka FC before bouncing back to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Chippa United).
In losing 1-0 to Bidvest Wits, Jonevret’s league record does not make for good reading: two wins, two defeats, five draws — two of them goalless. The opposite is true in the Nedbank Cup contests, Pirates’ last chance of salvaging some silverware.
Clad in the green jersey specially made to mark the club’s 80th anniversary, Jonevret’s men have left opponents green with envy with a couple of high-scoring wins on the road. Amateurs Eastern Cape Bees PIRATE RAID: Orlando Pirates supporters go on the rampage during the Premier Soccer League match against Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld on February 11, when the Soweto giants suffered a humiliating 6-0 defeat. Today the teams meet again for the return clash, this time at Orlando Stadium in Soweto
It is not an easy task to find a coach for a team of the stature of Orlando Pirates
were eliminated 3-1 in the last 32. The significance of that victory ending a 12-match foreign relationship with victory.
Stars were outclassed 4-1 in Orkney in the last 16 before Pirates battled to beat Bloemfontein Celtic 2-1 to book a semifinal meeting with Lamontville Golden Arrows.
They’ve battled to get themselves out of the bottom half of the table.
Jonevret has steadied the ship somewhat, settled on a core, but it’s all hit-and-miss work in progress. Happy Jele, Ayanda Gcaba and Oupa Manyisa have been ever present in the nine lineups.
Abbubaker Mobara and Mpho Makola each missed out once on a starting berth in a league match while Thabo Matlaba and Tendai Ndoro have also featured prominently under Jonevret.
His biggest achievement thus far has been returning Manyisa to a semblance of the scintillating form that made him one of the best midfielders in the land. The ginger- bearded skipper of the Sea Robbers is far from his devastating best, but a bit of the dance is back in his twinkle toes. Embarrassing goalkeeping errors still leave him egg-faced.
He has not infused immediate intensity into the team’s game but the honesty of his remarks has been unmissable.
The lanky Swede opined that he saw a lot of good players on the bench of Wits. It was a loaded statement, whichever way you looked at it. It spoke of quality over quantity. And a lot of quality in the form of men from Mamelodi is coming to Orlando this afternoon. Downs have slipped to third place, three points behind Wits, who lead with 54. Pirates are No 8, their top-eight finish not a dead cert.
Only Gcaba, Matlaba, Mobara and Manyisa are the survivors from Pirates’ worst defeat ever who took to the field against Bidvest Wits on Thursday. Pirates and Sundowns clashes are always high octane. May this, too, deliver — sparks and all.
Jonevret’s league record does not make good reading: two wins, two defeats, five draws... The opposite is true in the cup contests