The aristocrats of South African club soccer, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, appear to have recovered from a disastrous start to the season to emerge as serious title contenders — at least for now.
An early series of mixed league results punctuated by mediocre performances, hardly worthy of the iconic status that the two most supported clubs in the country enjoy, fell short of the continued justification to be regarded as the barometer of the Premier Soccer League.
New Pirates head coach Ruud Krol looked set for a quick return to Holland while his counterpart at Amakhosi Muhsin Ertugral was also barely hanging on to his job at the Naturena as fans demanded a change of fortunes.
Coaching these two giant Soweto sides is a daunting task as their followers will have you know that finishing second is not good enough.
Krol and Ertugral had picked just four and six points respectively from a possible 15 in their opening five matches, sparking a barrage of criticism.
Pirates chairperson Irvin Khoza, known to quickly fire coaches with a string of losses, was unusually patient and ignored demands for the Dutchman’s head from Bucs supporters.
He gave the new coach the benefit of the doubt when he pleaded for more time.
Krol has repaid the Iron Duke’s patience with a remarkable transformation that has seen the Bucs go for an incredible eight matches without recording a loss in the past weeks, including booking a place in the Telkom Knockout courtesy of a 3-0 demolition of Bloemfontein Celtics in an eventful semi-final last weekend.
The cup final berth comes on the back of an impressive 2-0 victory over bitter rivals Kaizer Chiefs in the Soweto derby, a 4-2 defeat of Thanda Zulu Royal and a hard-fought 0-0 draw against the expensively assembled Mamelodi Sundowns, among their notable performances.
Mickey Modisane, Orlando Pirates public relations manager, is pleased with the sudden turn of events and attributed the misery of the early days to a lack of fitness and the players struggling to get used to a new coach.
‘The players were not all fully fit and had to come to terms with the style of their coach and the technical discipline he was introducing. It was always going to take a bit of time for the coach and players to understand each other,†said Modisane.
He said the executive always believed in Krol’s abilities even when the results were slow in coming. ‘We ignored calls for change in the technical department as the executive never doubted the calibre of our head coach,†Modisane said.
The devastating form of Teko Modise, Dikgang Mabalane and Lebohang Mothibantwa at the country’s oldest club has been the driving force behind exorcising the ghost that haunted title aspirations at the beginning of the season and saw them even lose 0-2 to newcomers Bay United.
Affectionately known as the ‘Happy Peopleâ€, Pirates are not just rolling back the good times but are also playing an entertaining brand of soccer.
It may be too early in the season to make any predictions, but the ‘Happy People†can for now afford to dream of returning to the 1996 glory days when they won the Africa Champions League — the only club in the southern hemisphere to achieve this feat.
The challenge for Krol is to maintain this rich vein if they are to improve on their present seventh position on the log and secure the top two slots at the end of the season that will guarantee the club a chance to join Africa’s finest in the lucrative Champions League.
The dress rehearsal league clash against their Telkom Knockout final opponents, Cape Town Ajax, at Johannesburg stadium tomorrow evening is one of the hurdles the Bucs will have to overcome in their quest for honours.
Amakhosi may not be looking forward to an early final but Ertugral should be content with his boys picking up form, being placed on the log’s fourth spot with 18 points — just one point behind log leaders Golden Arrows and second-placed Ajax.
Besides the loss to their sworn enemies on the field in the Soweto derby three weeks ago, Chiefs bounced back to vent their anger on AmaZulu (3-0), edged both defending champions Supersport and log leaders Golden Arrows 1-0 while the students of Wits were taken through a 4-1 soccer lesson, all in November.
Kaizer Chiefs chairperson Kaizer Motaung Snr has described the slump in form at the start of the season in his column as just the wake-up call his charges needed. ‘Having dropped valuable points from earlier matches, surrendering the Telkom Knockout place was a wake-up call,†wrote the Amakhosi boss.
It may be taking a long time for the soccer community to understand that success does not come overnight and that coaches need to be afforded reasonable time to impart their knowledge to players; the resurgence of Chiefs and Pirates could serve as a valuable lesson.
The rise of the Soweto giants has also augured well for soccer in the country with Modise, Itumeleng Khune and Simphiwe Tshabalala featuring prominently for the national team.
Moreover, the elevation of the standard of play has brought back renewed optimism to one of the fiercest derbies in world soccer when many felt it had lost the flare of the 1970s and 1980s.
Chiefs may have been on the receiving end after the 90-odd minutes of play but fans certainly got their money’s worth as both clubs did enough to restore pride in the ‘Battle of Sowetoâ€.
The long-serving Tinashe Nengomasha, Tshabalala, Khune, Jose Torealba, new Nigerian signing Ibezito Ogbonna and Onismor Bhasera are quality players whose contribution remains instrumental in the PSL title coming to the Naturena at the end of the season.
Sadly, while Pirates can look forward to taking on Africa’s best if they win the league, Amakhosi remain banned from the competition until 2009 owing to a Confederation of African Football ruling for abruptly pulling out of the competition in 2005.
Still, this has not diminished the hunger for success at Chiefs this season and they could top the log this weekend should they beat Santos at Athlone Stadium if the top two teams, Golden Arrows and Supersport, draw at King Zwelithini Stadium.