Orlando Pirates striker Ndumiso Mabena has opened up on the impact of
departed striker coach Scott Chickelday, who was working at the club on a
consultancy basis.
Chickelday was brought in to address Pirates’ problems in the final third
and the results have been evident. In the first 15 DStv Premiership
matches of the season, the Buccaneers netted 10 times, but they have
already banged in 11 goals in the five matches played in the second round
of the campaign.
Mabena believes the team has absorbed enough knowledge from Chickelday and
has not gone back to their old ways of struggling to score goals.
“He added a lot of value in the attacking third. With all the goals that
we scored when he was around, it was what we were doing at training. Set
pieces, finishing…it’s those drills we do at training. He is gone now,
but we are still continuing with scoring. We have learnt a lot from him,”
Mabena told media during the Soweto derby press conference at Vodacom
World in Midrand, Johannesburg, on Monday.
“As matured as we are, a month was enough for us because we are still
scoring. We have not forgotten what we learnt from him. We are still
scoring goals.”
The Buccaneers head into this weekend’s Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs
high in confidence, with the likes of Terrence Dzvukamanja and Monnapule
Saleng capable of tearing the opposition defence apart.
