Michaelson Ntokozo Gumede

By Ntokozo Gumede

Journalist


Segolela’s advice to Pirates on signings

Tlou “Sox” Segolela has been observing the movements at Orlando Pirates in the past couple of transfer windows and he believes that the Buccaneers, led by Jozef Zinnabauer, have assembled a good squad. 


The former Pirates star, however, feels they are missing a defensive midfielder who is hard as rock and a central defender.

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Segolela, who rose to fame as Pirates’ speedster between 2007 and 2015 with a couple of loan stints in between, backs what seems an imminent capture of Tyson Hlatshwayo from Bidvest Wits.

“As we see now that Pirates have got a nice foundation now, the players are also starting to believe to the coach’s philosophy, culture and style of play because usually those really take long to understand them. If you are not open-minded, if players start, a players says I want to play like this, but a coach says you must play in a different way, you have to do that,” said Segolela.

“In terms of positions, on my part, I can say they might need a centre back, they also need one in the middle, a hard one that can work for the other guys because we know that Pirates have a lot of players who can run forward all the time, so they need the player who will stay there and do the job for them and that when they do the runs he can release them. So I think they need a centre-back, a goalkeeper and a holding midfielder,” added the former Bucs player, who has since hung up his boots after struggling to find a team.

“Sox” went on to identify Mamelodi Sundowns star Thapelo Morena as one player who reminds him of his old self, saying every time he watches the 26-year-old – who recently recovered from a raptured ankle – he sees glimpses of himself.

“Sox was very much direct in his play with so much speed and at the moment I think it is Thapelo Morena who shares the similarities in the style of play and quality. I am a great fan of his,” said Segolela.

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