Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro says he has no issues with supporters singling out Patrick Maswanganyi with chants in recent weeks.
Maswanganyi, 26, has developed quickly into a fan favourite at Pirates since his off-season move from SuperSport United and has even emerged in the debate for the Premier Soccer League Football of the Season.
Of late, Pirates supporters have developed a chant for ‘Tito’ while sounds of Ambulances rang around eSgodini on Wednesday evening, representing his moniker Ambulance Yase Tembisa.
“As long as they continue singing because they are performing well, I’m happy, I’m alright,” Riveiro said about the Pirates fans chants for ‘Tito’.
“As I said many times, the fans, they identify the players that they like, the players who are [bringing] them to the stadiums. The players they like to see on the ball and right now we have many of those players in a good moment, in good form and our fans they are absolutely happy with them.
“If they want to sing names, if it’s because they are doing a good job, it’s a good thing, but everyone around needs support, that’s the most important, that we’re getting support as a team in recent weeks from our fans wherever we go.
“Even in Orlando there were a couple of games in the beginning of the season, that so-so, we didn’t finish in a happy way, but right now [the fans] are pushing us in every scenario, in every game, it’s motivation for fans to come to the stadium and motivation for our boys to try and perform at that level that people expect from them.”
Maswanganyi has scored nine goals with 12 assists in 36 games across all competitions since his arrival at the Soweto giants.
