Qalinge’s move to Pirates wasn’t the best one, says Barker

Qalinge, who enjoyed his best football at Aces between 2012 and 2014 under Barker before moving to the Buccaneers, struggled to command a regular place at the Soweto giants.

READ: SuperSport set to release former Pirates winger Qalinge

He was eventually released by Pirates at the end of the 2018/19 season after spending most of the time on the sidelines in his five-year stay at the club.

He joined SuperSport at the beginning of the season on a free transfer, but he again failed to cement his place in the club’s starting line-up and is set to be released by the club after SuperSport confirmed that they won’t be renewing his contract when it expires in June.

“When I had him, he was very talented. He was very good in one-on-one situations. He could go past people. You’ve watched him regularly, he was a top-class player together with Themba Zwane [now at Mamelodi Sundowns] at that time. Zwane went forward and he went backwards.

“He is very young enough to turn it around, he is good enough to do so.

“I think it is more of a mental problem that he is going through now. But he’s got the ability to come back. He is a young man. I would not worry too much about his form at the moment, I know he will get his game right.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.