Mbele on how Sredojevic’s sudden departure affected Orlando Pirates

Orlando Pirates administrative officer Floyd Mbele has broken his silence on how the departure of Milutin Sredojevic affected the club’s plans to succeed this season. 

Sredojevic resigned as head coach of the Buccaneers three games into the season and later joined Egyptian giants Zamalek in a lucrative deal. 

Mbele said losing a key member of their squad at that critical stage of the season was never easy because the club had already made plans for the season and didn’t expect anyone to leave.  

“It never is [easy] because when you go through pre-season your assumption as a club is that everybody who’s there is going to be there for the rest of the season,” Mbele told Sowetan.

“Now, if one of your key components moves out it means you must realign and it’s not necessarily the best because it’s a toss and turn.”

In an attempt to build on the foundation laid by Sredojevic, the Sea Robbers appointed Rhulani Mokwena as their interim coach because of his understanding of the system having worked with the Serbian mentor for two full seasons prior. 

However, things couldn’t get better as the team consistently struggled for positive results until Mokwena was replaced by Josef Zinnbauer in December 2019.  

“You’re hoping that something gives but you’re also hoping that nothing ever goes bad, and it’s an experience,” he added. 

Furthermore, Mbele revealed Pirates hope to avoid that kind of situation from happening again, but admits it is sometimes difficult as they are dealing with people with aspirations and ambitions and, therefore, it may be beyond their control.    

“We surely will make sure that we avoid something of that nature taking place but to the extent that you are also dealing with human beings who have got aspirations‚ ambitions and so on, you can’t completely control that part. It’s a variable that you have no control over. It’s not easy,” concluded Mbele.