Are divisions and tension causing Pirates to falter?
Sources say the division began when head coach Jozef Zinnbauer made it a habit to bench Happy Jele and handed the captaincy to new signing Thulani Hlatshwayo.
Jwaneng Galaxy defender Fortune Thulare claims that Orlando Pirates have a weakness (Pic Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix)
Sources within the Orlando Pirates camp say the division and tension is almost tangible given the club’s recent run of form, which is believed to be influenced by backroom politics.
ALSO READ: Zinnbauber unhappy with Pirates’ first half display during Leopards loss
Phakaaathi sources say the division began when head coach Jozef Zinnbauer made it a habit to bench Happy Jele and handed the captaincy to new signing Thulani Hlatshwayo.
“Most of the players are fond of Jele and feel he is hard done by the coach and the club which only extended his contract by a single year,” said the source.
“The MTN8 was not even won by Zinnbauer’s doings, it was club veteran Stanley “Screamer” Tshabalala’s tactics that won the MTN8 and everyone at the club knows that,” the source added.
Meanwhile, as reported earlier, Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer was not pleased with his side’s first half performance during the loss to Black Leopards.
An own goal from Innocent Maela and a goal from Roderick Kabwe was enough to give Lidoda Duvha a 2-0 win over a lackluster Buccaneers in a DStv Premiership clash played at Thohoyandou Stadium on Sunday.
“We were completely out of it in the first-half, the first-half I don’t know what we did but it was not what we spoke about before,” Zinnbauer told SuperSport TV.
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