After the Orlando Pirates documentary revealed how Deon Hotto and Thembinkosi Lorch's grudge created division in the squad, former midfielder Clifford Ngobeni has opened up on his own bad treatment by his Buccaneer teammates.
It was revealed in part of a series of documentaries by the Pirates production team called 'Bucs camp', how former midfielder Lorch allegedly had a personal gripe with Hotto and influenced one part of the group to accuse the Namibian of being a favourite of head coach Jose Riveiro.
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In a bold confession by Paseka Mako, the left-wing back alleged that the former PSL Footballer of the Season was 'jealous' of Hotto, hence the conflict between them.
The rumours started to circulate that the former Bidvest Wits utility player was one of the highest paid players at The Buccaneers, that's why he did not see eye to eye with the Free State born midfielder, until he was transferred to Mamelodi Sundowns.
Rewinding back to between 2010 and 2012, Ngobeni has alleged that Pirates players players purposefully took him out of the team after he arrived as a big player already from Ajax Cape Town (Cape Town Spurs) and suggested he was ahead of Andile Jali in terms of football intelligence.
"We were different players, Jali matured a bit later using his brain. I used my brain at an early age. He was a robust player at his peak, hard running but (only) now towards the end of his career he's clever," Ngobeni said, when asked if Jali was better than him on Trap and Pass YouTube Channel.
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"So I wouldn't compare myself (with him) because we'd play together and understand each other. I think they were jealous of me. I remember playing against Ajax, we lost three (3-0), I remember trying to mark, Jali stood (still), he didn't support me and that was my last game for Pirates.
"I heard stories they're trying to sideline me and that happened. When they signed me, I was hot and the players (maybe) calculated, is it four figures, five figures (salary) and that created the hatred. I heard there's meetings about me (by players) that 'we don't play well when Clifford is playing'. I could sense the players have a problem. After Krol left, the Brazilian told me straight and said, 'Hey my man, they say I must not play you'," Ngobeni added.
Ngobeni could not resurrect his career after he joined Golden Arrows on loan from the Soweto giants in 2012, as he eventually joined defunct Mpumalanga Black Aces a year later and went down into the trenches of South African football before his eventual retirement in 2021, where he was last on the books of University of Pretoria.
