In a thinly-veiled cutting remark, Orlando Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi has questioned the quality of players the club continues to sign, likening their transfer business to shopping at Spar when champions Mamelodi Sundowns are buying premium quality at Woolworths.
Ncikazi believes the players Pirates continue to sign are not as good as what the recently-crowned DStv Premiership champions are getting. The Brazilians won their fifth successive title with four games to spare, proving they are miles ahead of the Soweto giants.
And Ncikazi, responding to a question on what needs to be done to stop Sundowns’ dominance, suggested that no team in South Africa has the financial muscle to match the Pretoria giants.
“Some teams are playing with development players, getting young players. Most developments were closed, Safa was closed, but Sundowns buys at Woolworths, and we buy at Pick n Pay and Spar,” said the Bucs coach.
“If Spar and Pick n Pay are closed, we can’t buy. I think it’s a scenario like that; they buy what’s ready. Maybe that’s the difference. We need to be competitive,” he concluded.
The former Golden Arrows coach suggested that the powers that be look into introducing financial fair play in the domestic league.
“We must cap the finances and have financial fair play because Covid has affected a lot of teams, whether it’s supporters, in terms of revenue, and most teams have been affected, but Sundowns have not been affected,” said Ncikazi.
Pirates will tackle TS Galaxy in a league game on Monday at Mbombela Stadium, looking to secure second spot to qualify for the Caf Champions League along with champions Sundowns.
