On Pirates’ new signings
Since my retirement from professional football, I’ve never stopped watching Orlando Pirates matches because I consider myself one of the club’s most loyal supporters. Pirates have been doing well this season and with the new players that they have signed, I’m sure they will continue to do so. Rele (Relebohile Mofokeng) came from the club’s development and reminds me of Joseph Makhanya and Lebohang Mokoena. If you recall, when I was playing for the club, we used to get a lot of players from our development and now there’s one or sometimes two that get promoted. Plus, the ones that are there are doing well. The team is doing well, even though there are ups and downs. This season, we have won the MTN8 and now there is the Nedbank Cup to compete for, but challenging for the league title is difficult because there is a club that owns the league. The league is always a tough competition because if you want to win it, you must collect points when the season starts. Mamelodi Sundowns collect points very early in the season and win it in the end. But this Pirates team is doing well and it’s just here and there where we are lacking.
Sometimes you find that the team is doing well and the coach (Jose Riveiro) will make changes, and we can’t blame him because there are also issues regarding injuries. I’m also impressed with Patrick Maswanganyi, who joined at the beginning of the season. The boy has adapted well. Rele is young and I never thought he would adjust so easy. What makes Rele special is that he is not afraid to get into the thick of things. When players are promoted to the senior team sometimes, they tend to get afraid, but that is not the case with Rele. He wants to make the team play and is very brave for his age. Whenever he plays, he makes things happen. He plays very simple, dribbles one player and passes the ball. He doesn’t complicate things. This shows that the coach that previously worked with him (Makhanya) is someone who understands Pirates. They play similar. During Makhanya’s days as a player, he used to dribble one player and hit a cross, and I think Rele plays like that as well. He also reminds me of the late Gift Leremi. That generation of Leremi, Mokoena and Makhanya was special. “Cheeseboy” picked up three Man of the Match awards after getting promoted because he was a special player. During his first Soweto Derby against Kaizer Chiefs, he was still at school but was showing signs of greatness. Mofokeng reminds me of that. He received great training from Makhanya. Thabiso Lebitso is a hard worker and will add a lot into the team. He has been so consistent this season.
