- Chickelday was appointed Pirates forwards coach at the start of January
- His arrival saw the Buccaneers improving upfront
- He now leaves his role after a month.
WHAT HAPPENED? Pirates roped in Chickelday in early January to fix their problematic strikeforce. He started work on January 5 and has now confirmed his departure on February 5, a day after the Soweto giants lost 1-0 to Mamelodi Sundowns.
While announcing his exit, Chickelday says the Sundowns match was his last day with the Buccaneers. He leaves Pirates at a time when Kaizer Chiefs coach Zwane said they are considering hiring a specialist strikers coach.
WHAT CHICKELDAY SAID: “Not the result I wanted in my last game with Orlando Pirates,” Chickelday announced on social media.
“[Pirates] competed and dominated for 90 minutes to lose 1-0 against top-of-the-table Mamelodi Sundowns. Thanks to everyone involved with the club and to the fantastic supporters for making me so welcome.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Chickelday is a specialist forwards coach who arrived at Pirates with a glowing profile of recently working with Premier League stars.
His clients included England and Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins, Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott and Chelsea attacker Xavier Simons who is on loan at Hull City. He was taking the players for private practice sessions and working on their finishing
During his time at Pirates, the Buccaneers were involved in five Premier Soccer League matches. They managed to score 10 goals under him and only failed to find the back of the next against Sundowns.
Before his arrival, Pirates were struggling for goals and had never scored in the second half this season. But they found their scoring boots and Chickelday saw Pirates loaning out two strikers Kwame Peprah and Zakhele Lepasa, as well as the signing of Souaibou Marou.
WHAT NEXT FOR PIRATES?It is to be seen if the Buccaneers will continue showing improvement upfront following Chickelday’s departure.
They will begin life without him when they visit All Stars FC in a Nedbank Cup Round of 32 clash next weekend.