Pirates coach set for final polish

With just over a week to the start of what could be a defining season for Orlando Pirates under Micho Sredojevic, the Serb says he is happy with how preparations have gone, crediting the side’s management for adding some credible players to his on-field personnel.

He said the team’s camps in Nelspruit, Zambia and Cape Town were a success and he has managed to integrate the older players with new signings.

“I need to give credit to the management for taking care of everything that happened to us last season after our report. They have done a tremendous job in the off-season to strengthen the team. I am very satisfied. And all we planned practically in the last four weeks that we have gone through, I think we have succeeded,” said the Bucs coach.

Among the new players who have joined the Buccaneers are Linda Mntambo, Nhlanhla Khuzwayo, Asavela Mbekile, Kudakwashe Mahachi and Vincent Pule.

“The first week was the introduction of the technical team and the new players to integrate with the players who were already here. Coming together was the crucial part and that continued in the camp in Nelspruit where fitness was the most important element we wanted to achieve.

“In Zambia we played some matches, especially against TP Mazembe, and they showed us the standard we need to reach and we succeeded in that and two other matches. We came back and had a weekend trip to Cape Town where we played two matches before returning.”

Sredojevic added that he would use the next couple of days to try new combinations ahead of their opening Absa Premiership game with newly-promoted Highlands Park at Orlando Stadium on August 4.

“We are in the last part of preparing for the Premiership season, we are happy and satisfied and just need to polish our man management, partnerships, triangulations. That is our target for the next few days.

“This is my first pre-season working with (assistant) coach Rhulani (Mokwena) and everything has gone well. But instead of thinking of what happened before, here we are with a few days to go to polish the team.”