Johannesburg - Orlando Pirates interim coach August Palacios is doing everything he can to make sure that the players forget last week’s embarrassment. The Sea Robbers sailed into Orlando Stadium on Saturday after drowning in troubled waters on a rainy night in Mbombela.
SuperSport United smashed the Buccaneers 6-1 on last week Tuesday. That result pushed former coach Muhsin Ertugral to resign on TV after that match. He tended his resignation in formally on Wednesday morning at 3.30am with an e-mail to club chairman Irvin Khoza.
Palacios was thrown into the deep end that afternoon and is tasked with taking the Bucs to a better position so that they can celebrate their 80th anniversary next year in style after Ertugral’s replacement takes over in January. Palacios’ tenure started with a 2-1 win over Highlands Park to book a place in the Telkom Knockout semi-final. One of the few positives from that match was that the club moved to the next stage. Apart from that, they still looked shaky in defence, lacked a creative spark in midfield and are one-dimensional upfront.
“All the routine that the team had before, we changed completely,” Palacios said. “From the time to train (which has been moved from 10am to 9am), to what happens in camp, the menu and the time of the team talk. We changed things completely for the players to try and forget the past.
“The most important thing is that the experienced players must help the other players raise their game,” Palacios continued.
“The likes of Oupa Manyisa , who just returned to action (must lead the team) with Edwin Gyimah at the back. (Tendai) Ndoro, he is a player who helped the team a lot against Highlands. (Thabo) Rakhale in the second half was the player that I want, with the way he penetrated their defence. We are going to try and go to the movies. We are going to get the players motivated.
“This win will make us believe again in ourselves because there is no doubt that we have quality players. We need to impose ourselves on our opponents.”
Even though Palacios has already changed a lot in terms of what the club does to prepare for matches, he played the same formation that Ertugral used with more or less the same line-up. Brighton Mhlongo retained his place in goal after being beaten six times in 45 minutes by Matsatsantsa a Pitori last week. Mhlongo didn’t cover himself in glory in that match, with a number of schoolboy errors.
“Before the chairman asked me to take over the club, I sent a message to Brighton after that game,” Palacios said. “I also called him the following day. I told him that these things happen in football. When it came to selecting the line-up for this match, there were no doubts from me to put Brighton in goal.
“If I didn’t start with him, I would have killed him completely. He had special training (leading up to the Highlands match). I was talking to him. I reminded him about the past, all the games and the things he has done to save Pirates. I told him that you are still No 1. You don’t need to worry about that. You must correct what you need to correct. But you will be in goal. I have known Brighton since he was 11-years-old. I know how to talk to him.”
The Star