JOHANNESBURG - Orlando Pirates chairman, Irvin Khoza, admitted that the club has problems, which he hopes to get to the root of by meeting with the players and the technical team.
The Buccaneers’ problems were amplified by the 6-0 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld. To add salt to the wound, angry Pirates’ fans stormed the field and tried to attack their players and technical staff. Violent clashes ensued after Sundowns fans blocked their access to the change rooms, resulting in 13 fans being taken to hospital.
Khoza condemned the behaviour, promising that the club will work with the police in their investigation. While that investigation happens, Khoza will be conducting his own to try to get to the bottom of the club’s shambolic season. Pirates lost 6-1 to SuperSport United in November, before Sundowns handed them their biggest defeat in history on Saturday.
“There is no denying that there is a problem,” Khoza said.
The chairman met with the technical team on Monday and will meet with the players on Tuesday. Those meetings should go a long way towards smoothing things over before the club announces the coach who will take over from stand-in Augusto Palacios next week.
But whoever is named as coach will not be the club’s first choice. The man they wanted to hire in January has a buy-out clause that put Pirates off, according to Khoza. The next coach has a lot of work to do, transforming a team that was once back-to-back league champions ... but who are now chumps. Palacios said the problem was that the current group of players lacked passion, arguing that they play for a pay-cheque rather than for the Pirates’ badge.
That claim doesn’t sit well with Khoza.
“If you are a Professor (like Palacios is called), that means that there is no problem above you,” Khoza said. “I am disappointed if ever he is punting that narrative because he should be the one assisting us with his experience and knowledge of the game. He should give us factors that will assist us. If you start punting other reasons (for why the team isn’t doing well), you are taking the focus away from yourself.
“We will end up auditing you also because as a coach, that’s your responsibility to assist us (in improving as a club) because you are an insider. You have been there for some time.
"So go and help us because you are clued up on the players, don’t give us reasons that will maybe show us your short-comings. I don’t buy that one. It’s a nice easy way (out) for him.”
The club’s woes have been made worse by the fact that this year Pirates turn 80. But so far the club hasn’t given their fans anything to celebrate. The Buccaneers are closer to the bottom than the leading pack in the Premiership. They crashed out in the first round of the MTN8 and in the semifinal of the Telkom Knockout. It’s a huge contrast to how they celebrated their 75th anniversary in 2012, completing a back-to-back domestic treble.
“Maybe this is a time for reflection,” Khoza said. “I have learned in my life that when you are faced with trials and tribulations, what’s important is what lesson are you learning? Challenges give you self-correction.
"There is a positive in what has happened. It has given us a chance to do some self-introspection. Sometimes we are lenient on ourselves. Maybe this being our 80th anniversary has given us a chance to reflect. That’s why I can’t bury my head in the sand and ask why me? We need to look at the corrective measures that need to be taken to move forward.”