I always have injuries at Pirates

For all his promise, Gladwin Shitolo has never really had a consistent run of games in an Orlando Pirates shirt to show what he is really made of since joining the club from Jomo Cosmos back in 2014. However, the fact that the Soweto giants have undergone coaching changes over the past couple of campaigns and yet he’s still been part of the set-up must mean there is something about him that the coaches like. Even now, he has been sent out to Chippa United, but only on loan. But what’s really been stifling his progress and when are we going to finally see him at his best? Soccer Laduma’s Beaver Nazo had a conversation with him, and the Giyaniborn defender says he is determined to show Mzansi what he is made of.

Beaver Nazo: Gladwin, Chippa United managed a 1-1 draw against Baroka FC, also relegation-threatened as you are, this past Sunday.

Gladwin Shitolo: It was a very tough match. Like you’ve just said, we are both trying to escape relegation, so you can imagine how tough it was. Besisempini laphayana (we were in a war there)!

BN: You missed a clear goalscoring opportunity, heading the ball wide of the open net…

GS:

Eish, I closed my eyes. I was so sure that I was scoring that one and I scored it before I headed it. Yho, that was a great opportunity, but it happens in football.

BN: So, how did your loan move to Chippa come about?

GS:

I got an opportunity from coach Clinton Larsen because he saw that I wasn’t playing at Orlando Pirates and he called me and asked if I would be interested in helping the club until the end of the season. That was before the two clubs spoke and agreed on my loan move from Pirates to Chippa. I am grateful to coach Larsen for thinking of me. You know how coaches work, man – if they’ve worked with you before and you did well, they don’t forget you.

BN: Coach Larsen lauded your signing, likening it to signing three players because of your versatility. Does that put pressure on you to perform all the time?

GS:

Not really. I can play in more than three positions, as coach Larsen said, so clearly, he sees a role for me to play in his team and I will make sure I grab the opportunity with both hands when given to me. There’s always pressure in football and I will do my best to make sure we move up from the wrong side of the league table.

BN: In the first three games of the current season, you were partnered with Ntsikelelo Nyauza in the heart of the defence, only to lose your place after that. What happened?

GS:

I think I lost my place because of the injury that I had and, even though I recovered and got back into the team, I found it very difficult to break into the starting XI. It is always like that at Pirates because there are a lot of quality footballers there. Even if a player is suspended, it is very difficult to get back into the team. So, yeah, it was the quad muscle injury that I suffered that took me out of the team and I spent three weeks on the sidelines. When I recovered, the team was doing well and I had to wait for my chance, which didn’t really come until I was afforded this opportunity by coach Larsen.

BN: In the first game of the season, against Highlands Park, you made the back pass that led to Wayne Sandilands’ howler. Two games later, against Bidvest Wits, you scored an own goal that saw Pirates lose 1-0. This must have been tough for you to deal with…

GS:

Yeah, it’s been a bit tough, but some experiences make you stronger. I took it as an opportunity to be strong. It happens even in top leagues in Europe. Unfortunately, it happened twice, but yeah, it made me stronger. BN: That is surely the last thing you’d want to experience after being out of the team for so long. GS:

No, you know, now I am not afraid of anything. I press on and look forward. I just continue with my football. I’m not scared and I don’t have that trauma of saying, ‘I cannot score another own goal.’ I just play with freedom.

BN: You have been loaned out for the second time now, having had a loan stint with Golden Arrows in the 2016/17 season. Do you think there’s future for you at the Soweto giants?

GS:

Look, only God knows. I work with the will of God, my brother. It is God who took me to Pirates and it is the same God who put me where I am today. So, wherever God takes me, I will go – whether it’s at Chippa or Pirates. So I don’t worry about that. Honestly, that’s the only answer I can give you.

BN: Fair enough. Having featured in 20 games while on loan with Abafana Bes’thende, you still found the going upon your return to Pirates. Was there an explanation offered for your lack of game-time?

GS: Not really, but I think the injuries that I always suffered were the cause of my limited game-time at Bucs. I don’t know why, but I always have injuries at Pirates.

BN: Why? Isn’t it maybe because of the training methods?

GS: I doubt (that is the case) because I played under different coaches at Pirates and they all had different training methods, but I kept getting injured.

BN: Is there a bad omen for you at Bucs then?

GS: Ha, ha, ha, no, I don’t believe in that. I think it’s just a coincidence that it keeps occurring all the time. That’s all there is to it and I cannot blame anyone for that. It is all part of the game

BN: Since joining the club back in 2014, you haven’t really made an impact or stamped your authority in the three-and-a-half seasons you’ve been there.

GS: Sometimes I feel like I was not giving anything to the team, but it was injuries that halted my chances of becoming a regular at Pirates. I remember when coach Muhsin Ertugral came, he believed in me and wanted to play me, but I was plagued by injuries. That’s how I lost my opportunity. But last season was when I got my chance at Pirates and that’s the best season I’ve ever had as a Pirates player.

BN: You also aren’t getting any younger and will be turning 30 in August. That means with your Bucs contract expiring in June, this could be your real chance to remind teams about your quality…

GS: That’s true and that is why I am grateful to the chairman for giving me this opportunity so that I can show that I am useful. This is the time where I need to really show who I really am in football and what I can give to the team.

BN: The Chilli Boys are flirting with relegation, although coach Larsen seems to have breathed new life into the team. You have a tough task ahead of you!

GS: Yeah, but I think this was a wise move for me. It is a challenge to say, “Ok, the team is not doing well

and I need to work hard and grow as a player, even though there’s pressure of fighting relegation.” As a player, I decided that because I have never been in this situation before, let me take this opportunity and see how I will grow from this experience. Sometimes, as players, we need to go through such stuff to grow.

BN: The team also has had a high turnover of players and coaches, which many people believe is the reason they’ve been struggling this season. Do you think joining Chippa will do your career good?

GS:

Firstly, I don’t believe that the position the club is in has anything to do with the change in the technical team and playing personnel. I just feel like Chippa needed the right person to be in charge. I feel like coach Larsen is the right person for the job. I mean, the understanding that he has with the players is phenomenal. I might be wrong, but I feel like by firing other coaches, the chairman was looking for the right person and I feel that coach Larsen is that right person. I promise you, there will be no more firing (of coaches) now because the right person is here. BN: How do you plan on avoiding relegation? GS: We work mostly on our defensive organization. We also work on our finishing because, as you know, Chippa is a team that plays a more attacking style of football and we create a lot of chances, but we are lacking the finishing. We are praying about our situation every day. We are a team that believes in God and, with His grace, we will pull through. We will survive! We are not deep in danger… we just have to start collecting points in our next games and, in that way, we will move up the table. BN: How do you think this move will benefit you, especially in terms of coming back to Pirates a better player? GS: At the moment, I am not thinking about Pirates, but rather concentrating on the task at hand. I want to help Chippa in all ways possible to avoid relegation. We have to be in a better position. I will see about Pirates when I get to Pirates. Even here at Chippa, there’s competition, so I am trying to establish a regular starting berth before I can think of Pirates.

BN: We’re about to let you go, but not without asking about what you think of Pirates’ chances of winning the league, with 12 games remaining until the end of the season.

GS:

They have a very big chance, but they need to convert their chances. They just have to keep collecting points. They are in a very good position. There’s also Mamelodi Sundowns, but I think they have played too many games and it’s showing in their game now. The players that are performing are Themba Zwane, who had a long injury layoff, and Anthony Laffor, who at one stage fell out of favour. But with Pirates, they have refreshed the squad and are strong in every department. There is no way this tired-looking Sundowns team can catch Bidvest Wits and Pirates if those two team keep winning their games.

BN: But Sundowns only lost their first game of the season against AmaZulu last week and still have those two games in hand…

GS:

If you look at how Sundowns have been winning lately, you’ll see that they have been grinding results. That shows how tired they are and they really have played many games. It is going to be more intense with the fixture backlog towards the end of the season. The Absa Premiership has changed now and there are no easy games. Look at how Baroka went about winning the Telkom Knockout. God is giving victory to the humble. I think it’s more spiritual in a way that God looks at the humble and gives them victory.

BN: That’s so powerful. Gladwin, thanks for the chat and hopefully your loan stint in Port Elizabeth yields the desired result.

GS: It’s a pleasure, my brother. Thank you.