Orlando Pirates captain Happy Jele says they are sailing into uncharted waters when they host Uthongathi in the Nedbank Cup on Saturday.
Jele admits they don’t know too much about their opponents, but the technical team are working hard to give the players as much as information as possible about the GladAfrica Championship team.
“It’s very difficult to play with a team you don’t know, but obviously we can’t decide (who Pirates are drawn against). But we have to prepare ourselves very well for this coming game,” Jele said in the virtual pre-match press conference
“So far we’ve started to analyse them (today), and it’s been going well, so we’re hoping that come the day we’ll be prepared very well.”
Jele also deflected any criticism of coach Josef Zinnbauer, after Pirates lost 2-0 to Golden Arrows in the mid-week.
“The coach and the analysts are working so hard to ensure that we get information so that we can capitalise on the weekend.”
“Ja, each and every coach comes with his own philosophy, and we have to adapt that, and so far the coach has been doing well. We won a trophy under him, so we can’t deny that.”
Jele says though they need to find consistency, especially in the DStv Premiership
“We need consistency, but all in all, we’ve playing well. The effort is there, it’s just a little bit of those mistakes that we need to fix, and obviously the coach is there to help us fix those mistakes.”
“But we have to show up and raise our hands. It’s us that we need to blame, it’s not about the coach, we have to raise our hands and lift our socks and go on and push because we are obviously capable of doing well. We showed that in the MTN8. But now we have to push and lift some other guys as well, and get some results and be consistent in the league.“
