Former Orlando Pirates skipper Lucky Lekgwathi has addressed the captaincy issue at the Buccaneers, with Innocent Maela not being a regular starter.
Last season, Maela featured in only 15 league games for Pirates, whereas the other 10 games came from domestic cup competitions and the CAF Champions League.
In those 25 matches he played for the Sea Robbers, he came on as a second-half substitute.
Last weekend, in the Pirates’ first official game of the campaign against SuperSport United in the MTN8 quarter-final clash, which they won 3-1, Maela started on the bench with the captain’s armband given to Olisa Ndah. In the previous campaign, Tapelo Xoki was the one leading the team as the captain in most of the games until he got injured.
LUCKY LEKGWATHI SHARES HIS VIEWS ON ORLANDO PIRATES’ CAPTAINCY
Lekgwathi, the former captain of the Soweto giants, insists that the captaincy issue at the ‘Happy People’ isn’t a problem because nobody owns a position at the club.
The retired footballer went on to commend how Maela has conducted himself despite lack of game time.
“Let me tell you, as a captain, you don’t own a position. Not to say that you are the captain, then you must play regularly,” Lekgwathi told FARPost.
“If there is competition within the team and you don’t deserve to play, then it’s obvious. But I believe he is a good player and he must wait for his chance to come. Whenever he comes to the team, he always does well.
“I’m so happy about everything he does for the team and the way he conducts himself because if it was other people not playing regularly they would then get angry.”
Lekgwathi continued: “The boy is always happy and whenever he gets the chance to play, he always does a great job. And other players who get to be captains, also delivered, like last week, the captain was Olisa Ndah and he has done a marvellous job. He even scored a goal and that must be a good motivation for Maela and others.
“You know one thing I like about Orlando Pirates, they have got a healthy competition in each and every position. Credit should go to the coaches as they know how to balance the team and to give all the players a chance to play.”
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