Second place not special – Bucs coach

ORLANDO Pirates coach Milutin Sredojevic insists finishing second is not special for the Buccaneers.

“This is normal – we don’t believe that we have done anything special‚” he said after second place in this season’s Absa Premier Soccer League for his Houghton club was confirmed on Saturday.

“This is the standard and above that is supposed to be Orlando Pirates’ identity.”

The Buccaneers still had remote hopes of becoming PSL champions going into the penultimate round of the season.

However, with Mamelodi Sundowns beating Ajax Cape Town and Pirates losing at Cape Town City‚ the top two premiership placings were confirmed.

“If our conversion rate in the first half of the season had been better‚ we could have gone one step further,” Serbian-born Sredojevic said.

“But we also need to say that we – the players – grew up as the season went on.

“We shall take this as a rebuilding process, a process that has seen us look for stability in the season’s second half and we have proven ourselves.

“We have won 32 points from 14 matches in the second half of the PSL season.

“If this had also happened in the first half of the season‚ we would be speaking a different story. “But this is how sport goes. “There is no automatic pressing of Q button and things are working,” the coach said.

“We are in a process – and we are happy that we’ve succeeded to rebuild the team‚ instil confidence‚ to make the players mentally strong and to be more aware of what the Pirates jersey means.”

Last season, Orlando Pirates had their worst season yet, when they finished 11th.

But this season, the head hunters have made sure of African Champions League qualification for next year’s tournament.

“We have 19 more points than we did last season‚” Sredojevic, who took over from the hapless Swede Kjell Jonevret in June last year, said.

Second place is Orlando Pirates’ best PSL position since they won the league in 2012.

Since then Bucs have finished third (2013)‚ fourth (2014)‚ fourth (2015)‚ seventh (2016) and 11th in the previous campaign. – TimesLIVE