Pirates just need to man up
On Pirates’ Confederation Cup defeat to Simb a
I didn’t get to watch the game because I had a family Easter weekend celebration, but I saw they lost. I also heard about the bad treatment they got, but look, that’s Africa and it is what it is. I mean, when we went to go play in Nigeria during the 1995 Champions League campaign, it was the second round fixture against a club called BCC Lions... We also got treated roughly but luckily we had Williams Okpara and he knew what the locals would do way ahead of time, so he prepared us mentally for such. We had people knocking on our doors at 03h00 saying they were bringing us toilet papers when we had plenty of that, ha, ha, ha. We’d get inside the bus and there would be all sorts of funny-looking things and smells, you know. They scored as early as the second minute, and it took a while for us to settle into the game as our nerves were still all over the place. Fortunately, Bruce Ramokadi got the equaliser for us late in the second half and we came back and beat them in Johannesburg. It was all mind games and strategies to distract us. When we went to play ASEC Mimosas in Ivory Coast, it was no different. So, really, it is to be expected and Orlando Pirates just need to man up now and know it won’t be smooth for them. They are up against tough sides who also know what a threat Pirates are, so they will do everything to intimidate the guys.
On Bucs’ league vs Confed Cup performances
It’s also puzzling to me why they’d do well in the Confederation Cup, only to stumble and fumble in the league. It doesn’t make sense really because they should either be doing well in both competitions or doing badly in both. They should be consistent everywhere. They need to play their hearts out in every single game. Look, every now and again, a player can lose consistency, but not all players all the times should be having bad days. They have such a big squad and they should be doing a lot better in the league too. But I’ll say collectively they’ve just not shown hunger and determination domestically this season. This is a team that’s still very close to my heart, and one can only hope they go all the way and possibly even win the Confed Cup. We saw the same thing with Kaizer Chiefs last season – they were doing terribly in the league but went all the way to the final of the Champions League.
On consistency, or lack thereof
Consistency has been such an issue. I can just remember during my playing days, consistency was the language we preached day in and day out, season in and season out. The guys I played with played with their hearts. We played with our while bodies... If someone conceded a goal, we’d get so angry with ourselves and wanted to always do better. We had a mentality to win all the time and pushed each other a lot. It wasn’t a case of, ‘Oh, okay, we lost, it’s water under the bridge, let’s focus on the next one.’ No, we discussed it a lot. I don’t think the guys today have that, the will to win all the time, to do it for one another. I was watching an interview the other day of one of the current players where he was sitting down with the likes of Jerry Sikhosana and Edward Motale and they asked the boy if they get to go out and mingle together after the games and he said no, they just leave and go their different ways. With us, we were brothers through and through, from the pitch to our homes. We had times when we’d play in Tembisa and after the games, Jerry Sikhosana would take us into one of the taverns there, and we would sit down and discuss the game extensively and carried on with the chats at training on Monday morning. We talked and talked about our performances and helped each other, without anyone feeling offended or attacked. I don’t see that happening anymore. It’s more individual-driven these days.
On supporters b eing b ack at the stadiums
We going to see a lot of uncomfortable moments. These guys have had it easy till now because the fans were not there to hurl insults at them. Pirates supporters aren’t the easiest to please and they don’t care about your last good game, they want you to perform every single time. When we were playing and you make a single mistake, the okes would whistle so hard for you to be substituted and you’d feel it. I had my fair moments of fans screaming at me, and it was never comfortable and that made me do better, in fact. So, yeah, they will get kicked if they don’t start performing well, especially next season. The coaches too, the fans will be on top of them really quick as well. It will be interesting to see how the fans react now towards them at stadiums.
On Paseko M ako’s injury
I watched that game (against Baroka FC) and shame, man, that wasn’t too good to see. You don’t want to see such on the field of play, but it happens in every now and again and I’m glad he’s going to be alright. Such a bright talent, and hopefully he comes back much stronger. Wishing him a speedy recovery. I was tough on the pitch and I was lucky I never got such major injuries. I was very fortunate, ha, ha, ha.
Gavin Lane, Former Orlando Pirates defender