Dumisa Ngobe: Micho Sredojevic has no reason to fail at Orlando Pirates

Legendary Orlando Pirates midfielder Dumisa Ngobe says the fact that the club has over 40 players should not be a problem for Micho Sredojevic to do job.

“You know what, that [having a big squad] should not be an excuse. We also had the same number of players when we were playing,” Ngobe told Goal .

Following his return from Turkey, Ngobe rejoined the Buccaneers in the 2000/01 season and at the time the team had the same number of players under coach Jean Yves Kerjean.

However, they had a number of experienced players, including Pollen Ndlanya, Thabo Mngomeni, Willem Jackson, Godfrey Sapula and the late Thabang Lebese among others.

“We also had the same number of players, but we made it work because we created competition amongst ourselves,” Ngobe said.

“We knew that if you don’t pull up your socks, you are out of the team and someone would come in to fill your spot. That’s what motivated us to perform,” Ngobe continued.

The Buccaneers missed out on the top eight for the first time in 30 years after a string of poor results last season.

Some attributed it to the structure of the team, particularly the twin-striker approach deployed by different coaches, but Ngobe disagrees.

“I don’t think that’s the problem because we also played with two strikers. The team has always played with two strikers. Perhaps the type of strikers they used were not good enough because you need to have one striker that’s going to stay in the box and one to run off defenders and chase every ball,” Ngobe explained.