Pirates are still very much a work in progress

Bucs first lost to Kaizer Chiefs in the Telkom Knockout at Moses Mabhida Stadium, before the two Soweto giants squared up once again in an Absa Premiership clash last Saturday, which saw Amakhosi emerge as 3-2 winners once more at the FNB Stadium.

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With the club having only managed to collect 13 points from 11 league games and sitting in ninth position on the log, Mokwena, who replaced Milutin Sredojevic after he resigned earlier this season, says they are still a work in progress.

“The difficulty has just been about players adapting to the new style of play, the new environment, to rebuild a new team. We understand the process, we understand what happened with our team, and we know why we are where we are. We know the transition that took place, we know that at the beginning of the season we unfortunately had to undergo a facelift to the squad,” Mokwena explained.

“When you unfortunately have to let go of 15 players and bring in 10 players, of course, there is an adaptation that needs to take place.”

The Bucs interim coach added that the team management, as well as the fans, understand the situation they are currently facing.

“Of course big clubs are judged by results and we know that we are never going to step down from that. The moment we step down from that we lose our status as a big club. But we are realistic, and fortunately our management understands football and understands where we are and why we are where we are. Our supporters are also people who understand football. But, be that as it may, we obviously have to start turning these good performances into results.”

With the Fifa break, followed by the Telkom Knockout semifinals, Bucs next play Polokwane City on November 26th.

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