How KZN quartet have highlighted Orlando Pirates' problems

While Orlando Pirates have struggled for goals this season, the likes of Thabiso Kutumela, Luvuyo Memela, Augustine Mulenga and Lehlohonolo Majoro have been netting freely for their respective clubs, Maritzburg United and AmaZulu.

Kutumela, now a regular in the Bafana Bafana squad, ended the season as the third-highest scorer in the league with 12 goals and was nominated as one of three contenders for both the PSL Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season awards.

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Mamelodi Sundowns' Peter Shalulile won both awards, but it cannot be denied that Kutumela had a brilliant season, even more so when considering that he was playing for a side which had been in and around the relegation zone for much of the campaign.

Meanwhile, at AmaZulu, Memela, Mulenga and Majoro were all instrumental in helping the Durban team to their best-ever finish in the PSL, second place, and with that, participation in next season’s Caf Champions League.

One thing all four players - Kutumela, Memela, Mulenga and Majoro have in common, is that they formerly played for Pirates.

This might make reading the PSL goal scorer's list hard to swallow for Bucs fans - their top scorer was Vincent Pule with just six league goals while Tshegofatso Mabasa and Gabadinho Mhango registered five each.

While Majoro left Bucs six seasons ago and Kutumela departed two-and-a-half years back, Mulenga and Memela were at Pirates the season before last.

Certainly in Memela and Mulenga's case, and perhaps even Kutumela, there must be an element of regret, and Bucs could most definitely have done with stats such as these:

Memela: 26 league matches, eight goals, four assists
Mulenga: 26 league matches, five goals, 11 assists
Majoro: 26 league matches, eight goals, two assists
Kutumela: 28 league matches, 12 goals, one assist
 
While Pirates’ case was not helped by injuries to strikers Zakhele Lepasa, Mabasa and Terrence Dzvukamanja, their shortcomings in attack have only been highlighted by the success of their former players.

Indeed, of the top eight clubs, only Swallows FC in sixth, with 31 goals in 30 games, scored less than Pirates’ 33 goals.

Even Kaizer Chiefs, who struggled this season before sneaking into the top eight on the final day of the campaign, scored 34 goals.