Lorch & Pule Return! ‘I Appreciate the Strategy of the Pirates Coach’

The delight is evident among those associated with Orlando Pirates, as crowd favourites Thembinkosi Lorch and Vincent Pule have returned to the club. Jose Riveiro is being praised for his squad management, with former Bucs striker James Mothibi impressed with how the coach is managing the players.

Lorch and Pule had missed the initial stages of the season due to injury, but returned in the Carling Knockout victory against Cape Town Spurs, where Lorch started and was awarded Man of the Match. Pule was introduced in the second half. Lorch was again a starter against AmaZulu on Tuesday for his first league match of the campaign, while Pule missed out.

“I like what the coach at Pirates is doing and it was just bad that we didn’t get the maximum points (against AmaZulu) but there’s something good happening and that’s about players like Lorch and Pule who are starting to get game time again. The guys that haven’t been playing have been getting game time lately and you can see that the coach is preparing everyone. Everyone (of those players) has signed a contract at Pirates and I’m happy with how the coach is managing them,” said Mothibi.

Up next, the Buccaneers are scheduled to host Polokwane City at Orlando Stadium on Friday. Mothibi is confident that the team will collect maximum points.

“Yes, the games (in hand) are getting fewer but that doesn’t mean we should get frustrated. Having said that, the players and coach need to realise that the supporters want nothing but the three points. For a team to win the league, you need to collect as many points as possible at home. Durban is more like a second home for Pirates (for the support that the team usually gets) and we should have collected maximum points there. I am confident that on Friday the team is going to collect maximum points,” he said.