‘Steve who? Is he also Nigerian?†responded new Orlando Pirates coach Kosta Papic when asked about former child prodigy and now adult almost-superstar Steve ‘Chippa†Lekoelea.
The 44-year-old Yugoslav had just told journalists that he knew Pirates’ new Nigerian signing Obinna Nwanneri — whom he described as a ‘very good player, but very stubborn†— when asked about Lekoelea.
Generally, it is no big deal when a foreign coach does not know the local players. But it is no small matter when the Pirates coach does not appear too concerned about one of the club’s favourite sons.
The last three Pirates coaches to win the league title could not really be bothered with the fans’ favourite players. Mike Makaab had a fall-out with Tebogo ‘Chippa†Moloi and still went on to win the club’s first title for donkey’s years back in 1994.
Then Gordon Igesund arrived in 2001 and benched the famed Lekoelea until he identified himself in terms of what he could do. Igesund went on to win his second and Pirates’ first premiership title.
Annoyed by the apparent snub, Lekoelea, the enfant terrible, took all his toys to an amateur tournament in Soweto to play there, regardless of a directive from the club warning him against this. He broke his leg and was not much help when Frenchman Jean Yves Kerjean’s team huffed and puffed to a third place.
Enter Roy Barreto for the 2002/03 season.
In Barreto, Pirates had again hired a coach who did not seem to be aware that Lekoelea’s reputation was something that had to be paid attention to. The player, also known as Kideo (so named after a children’s TV show), who had appeared for Moroka Swallows as a 15-year-old in 1994, sulked. He used his column in a weekly soccer newspaper to publicly lambaste Barreto and his methods.
With Lekoelea on the bench and sometimes in the stands, Barreto won the league championship.
On the day of the Papic announcement, Lekoelea arrived — late — in jeans and T-shirt. His teammates had just finished training and were still in their kit and boots. The previous weekend Lekoelea had been the toast of the club after his brilliant free kick won Pirates third place in the Vodacom challenge. For his efforts he also won R5 000 after being voted man of the match.
So, on anectodal evidence, a Pirates coach who does not get on well with the club’s favourite player — and if that player is nicknamed Chippa — stands a good chance of winning the sport’s biggest prize, the league title.
But in case Papic reads this and decides to treat Lekoelea like Cinderella’s wicked stepmother treated the girl who would be a princess, there is a catch. For starters, Moloi now coaches in the club’s development ranks and is touted as Papic’s assistant.
All three title-winning coaches did not stick around to defend their titles. Makaab parted ways with the club after a string of bad results in the league in 1995.
That the team was progressing well in the African Champions Cup (the predecessor to the current African Champions League), which the club went on to win, was not enough to save him.
Igesund effectively wrote his resignation letter the day he said ‘there is no room for comment on the score boardâ€. The highly successful and only coach to win the league title with three clubs, including the unheralded Santos and Manning Rangers, meant that poor football could be tolerated as long as the club won, which Pirates did more times than not under him.
Barreto’s team was praised by neutrals for having the best defensive play. Pirates faithful condemned them for playing a negative type of football, interested more in winning 1-0 rather than losing 10-9 as some fans would prefer.
All three coaches were charged with failing to play ‘the Pirates brand of soccerâ€, meaning a style adept at attacking opponents with guile, and winning knock-out tournament trophies.
Pirates boss Irvin Khoza says when coaches and players are enlisted, he tells them about the history of the club.
‘We don’t fire coaches or players. They have to measure up to the history of the club,†says the man known as the Iron Duke.
Papic says pressure is part of the game and he is used to it. He has coached in his native country and also three of Nigeria’s premier league clubs, Lobi Stars, Enyimba and Rangers.
And, of course, Khoza must have mentioned that the result of a fixture concerning Kaizer Chiefs would be counted much more than the points at stake on October 30. Papic cannot say he was not warned.