Moloi slams ‘blame game’
Former assistant coach and onetime hero of the Orlando Pirates fans, Tebogo Moloi (above), yesterday hit out at what he termed “the blame game” within the ranks of the troubled Soweto giants.
And on the eve of the Buccaneers’ vital Nedbank Cup fixture against Free State Stars, an outspoken Moloi hit at comments made by new Buccaneers coach Kjell Jonevret that shortcomings of the previous coaching administrations were taking time to correct.
“I regard Muhsin Ertugral and Augusto Palacios as two of the best coaches who have performed their craft in South African football,” added Moloi, “and to point a finger at them, directly or indirectly, is simply not fair.
“Ertugral was hardly given time to settle down at Pirates at the start of the season before pressure was put on him.
“As for Augusto (Palacios), the work he has done in various capacities at Pirates over many years is unmatched and he should have been given a vote of confidence and appointed as the permanent coach and not the caretaker coach.
“Making him the caretaker coach created a lot of unfair pressure on him and the players. It was like saying you are not really good enough, but hold the fort until we find someone better.”
Moloi suggested that Pirates were in the 80th anniversary of the club facing a similar crisis to that which existed in the early 1980s.
After a distinguished and varied coaching stint within Safa during which he guided the South African team into a place in the 2016 Olympic Games and more recently impressed as Bafana Bafana caretaker coach following Shakes Mashaba’s dismissal, Owen da