Heads can be expected to roll when the mighty Orlando Pirates take stock of their humiliating defeats at the hands of SuperSport United and Mamelodi Sundowns.
Just before the Christmas break, the Ghosts or Mighty Buccaneers, as Pirates are fondly known by their avid fans, lost 6–1 to SuperSport in a league game just before their Nedbank Cup game against the same team, which they lost 1–2.
Then came the 6–0 thrashing against the Brazilians in another league encounter. This was the last straw that broke the camel’s back for the fans on the day of the match and they decided to vent their anger and frustration by pelting the team with missiles and later invaded the pitch to make their statement.
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At a press conference, the chairperson of the club and of the Premier Soccer League, Dr Irvin ‘Iron Duke’ Khoza made it unequivocally clear that violence and hooliganism at soccer matches had no place in the beautiful game.
He said Pirates were going to take stock of the disappointing defeats. “A 6–1 loss by a club of the stature of Orlando Pirates is unacceptable. For that to be followed by a 6–0 drubbing is like rubbing salt into the wound,” said Khoza.
The ‘Iron Duke’ added that he was going to hold discussions with the club’s technical staff with a view of getting to the bottom of what had led to this state of affairs and the way forward.
Read: PSL condemns Loftus violence
“I know one of the things that need to be addressed is the issue of appointing a coach, but it is not an easy task to find a coach for a team of the stature of Pirates. When we find one, the pressure on that coach is enormous. This is the reason why, when we lose a coach we look to an insider in an attempt to stabilise until a replacement is found. It has worked in the past but this time around it is proving to be a challenge.”
He said a candidate had been identified but unfortunately was still contracted to another team. “We cannot, therefore, reveal any information at this stage. We had hoped that at the end of January he would be available but there is a buy-out clause in his contract until the end of May.”
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