Pirates will rock - Ertugral
Mushin Ertugral relived the heartache of losing his first Soweto Derby against rivals Kaizer Chiefs as Orlando Pirates coach at the weekend.
|||Mushin Ertugral yesterday relived the heartache of losing his first Soweto Derby against rivals Kaizer Chiefs as Orlando Pirates coach at the weekend, but he believes the two top friendlies the Buccaneers have secured before the start of the season will help him put his own stamp on the team.
Pirates travel to Namibia this week where they will play Mamelodi Sundowns and possibly one of the local teams there. Ertugral also confirmed that upon their return, Platinum Stars will host his men in the second edition of the Maize Cup on August 13 at Moruleng Stadium. The format of the competition has changed somewhat following the sale and change in ownership of Mpumalanga Black Aces, who took part in the tournament last year alongside Dikwena, Bloemfontein Celtic and Botswana’s Township Rollers. They were expected to host the four-team tournament this time around with the help of the local government after the North West province staged the previous one, but Aces were bought by John Comitis, relocated to the Mother City and renamed Cape Town City.
“Everybody is still disappointed from losing the derby,” said Ertugral. “But you can’t dwell on that too much because we didn’t have that much control of the team because of the Carling Black Label Cup concept. Maybe we could have had a few players in certain positions. However, we are going to be working hard in the next remaining weeks to be ready for our opening match of the season.”
Pirates face Golden Arrows on August 24 in their first Absa Premiership clash at Orlando Stadium, and the coach hopes taking on Sundowns and Platinum Stars will help him fine-tune his orchestra.
“This team finished seventh last season, so people have to be a little bit more patient,” said Ertugral. “That is why we have these games that are coming up that will help us with combination play and certain patterns. You could see on Saturday that the team is a little bit unsure of how we want them to play, which is understandable. I know myself, and with the record I have, believe me when I say this team will rock by the time the season kicks off.”
The clash against Pirates will also be a welcome boost for Dikwena coach Cavin Johnson, who has also brought in several new players, including old boy Henrico Botes, who left the club in 2014 to join Bidvest Wits, but has returned in the twilight of his career. - The Star
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