Micho admits Pirates are far from being silverware material

ORLANDO PIRATES’ coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic was blunt in his analysis of the club’s state of affairs, arguing that they can’t think, let alone talk about winning a trophy at the moment.

The Buccaneers have improved from the miserable team they were last season, but they are still not ready to meet the high demands from their fans as the Serbian coach continues the rebuilding process.

Pirates will watch the remainder of the Telkom Knockout on television after their elimination in the quarter-finals by Polokwane City on Saturday.

This means that their cup drought – Pirates are without a trophy since 2014 – will stretch to four years. And if Sredojevic’s words are anything to go by, it could be longer than that.

“First of all, I need to tell you that before we can start speaking of silverware we need to reach a certain standard,” Sredojevic said.

“I believe that we are on the right path. We just need to find the right balance between not conceding and scoring enough. We are still in the race for the two trophies in front of us (the Absa Premiership and Nedbank Cup).

“I don’t belong to the group of people who make promises.

“I know that we will do everything possible to do our best and outplay every single team that we are up against.

“I know that the way we are progressing, we will eventually get the final product that will see us play a good brand of football that will bring fans to the stadium but at the same time being tight at the back and being effective in front of goals.”

Pirates’ misfiring strikers have been their Achilles heel. The Soweto giants have scored just eight goals in 10 matches in the league.

Only the bottom four sides have a worse strike