ORLANDO Pirates administrative manager Floyd Mbele, has dismissed allegations that caretaker coach Rhulani Mokwena is no longer in charge of the Buccaneers.
This follows rumours that his assistant Fadlu Davids is now training the team as Mokwena was allegedly stopped by management after Bucs’ 3-2 Absa Premiership defeat to rivals Kaizer Chiefs a fortnight ago.
The Pirates caretaker coach has been under pressure since he replaced Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic, who joined Egyptian side Zamalek in August.
Bucs have dropped crucial points and were also booted out of the MTN8 and Telkom Knockout cups, respectively.
Explained the source: “Fadlu has taken over training since Rhulani was stopped from training by management after the Soweto derby, and the players were told that he had flu (influenza virus).”
However, Mbele rubbished the allegations as nonsense.
He went on: “There is no such. That’s nonsense. The team was given off a couple of days due to the Fifa (international) week.
“He (Rhulani) was sick, and when you are sick do you force someone to come to training? You can’t force him to come to work when he is not well.”
Mbele said Pirates have shown a lot of improvement under Mokwena’s guidance compared to last season at this time when Sredojevic was in charge.
Mokwena has been in charge of 13 matches in all competitions – won five, drew four and lost the same number of games.
The outspoken mentor also lost back-to-back Soweto derbies in the league and cup (Telkom Knockout), which didn’t go down well with Bucs fans having dominated Amakhosi since 2014.
Pirates occupy ninth spot on the league table and are 15 points behind leaders Chiefs, having collected 13 points from 11 matches.
Added Mbele: “We are not in a worst situation than we were last season.”
Bucs will resume their league schedule with a date against the struggling Polokwane City at Orlando Stadium next Tuesday.
