Pitso Mosimane post-match: after Sundowns semi-final defeat here's what he had to say

Under pressure: Pitso Mosimani

Less than six months after lifting the PSL title with Mamelodi Sundowns, coach Pitso Mosimane finds himself under fire following today's 1-0 TelkomKO semi-final defeat at Platinum Stars.

Pelted verybally and physically by KaboYellow fans after the game, the social networks erupted in scorn for the former Bafana Bafana boss. Some even suggested Masandawana only won the title last season because Kaizer Chiefs collapsed, saying they have been "lacklustre" throughout Pitso's reign.

Nobody can possibly agree with that. Any Arsenal (or AmaZulu) fan will tell you a championship is a magnificent achievement, anywhere, anyhow. And they can be as rare as a snow storm in the Sahara.

Pitso knows former Sundowns star Dove Wome is scoring for SuperSport, who reached the final with a 2-0 win over grieving Orlando Pirates on Saturday night. And he knows he is weighed down by the expectation which accompanies a club backed by biollionaire Patrice Motsepe.

But with SIX of our 17 PSL coaches already gone this season, would you REALLY get rid of the championship coach less than a third of the way through the season? Without further comment, here's what Pitso said after the game today. Judge for yourself whether he deserves the boot. I know what I think:


Difficult times, ey?

Our game-plan first half was good, I think it was perfect, we had movement, passing the ball well, chances being created, and - again - chances were not taken.

One chance ey? They came once. One chance and they score. I mean, there's nothing else that I can say really. These guys were coming to score and that was that. The game of football, they suck you in, one chance, one break, one mistake. When people suck you in, that's the problem.

It was a tactical mistake at the back between my two centre-backs. Against Pirates we had the same thing on the same side when Kermit Erasmus scored … and I addressed it, we worked on it, and it went well in all the other games since.

Again today... it pops up, I think my right centre-back could have covered my left centre-back, he was a little too far from him, and you lose a game like this ey? It's only that, nothing else, nothing else.

At the end of the day it's all on the coach. I discussed it, I spoke, we discussed it, we have done it, we have covered it … it happens again.

But I'm the coach, I take responsibility, it's my team … it means I'm not trying harder for them to do it more, but it's sad, the game of football goes like this. 

But I have to pep them up now, it's terrible hey, it's very sad... but it's okay.

A sad night at the Orlando Stadium: The lessons South African football MUST learn from Saturday's violence

Pirates ahoy: the Orlando Stadium on Saturday night. Picture: IOL

There are vital lessons to be learned for South African football after Saturday night's troubled scenes following SuperSport United's shock 3-0 win over Orlando Pirates in a stormy MTN8 semi-final.

What happened on Saturday night – Benni McCarthy’s indiscipline, inept stewarding, poor security – cannot be glossed over as the club run by PSL Chairman Irvin Khoza attempts to put right Saturday’s on-field problems.

These are not the rantings of an angry fan of either side. I was at the game, in the midst of the Orlando Pirates fans, with my friend Khotso Ditshego. We witnessed every minute of the trouble, and the aftermath as we walked home from the ground close to midnight. I have seen trouble break out at games in England, Demark and France... and grew up amid serious football violence in South Africa in the dark days under Apartheid.

Determined action must be taken to avoid a repeat. But I fear it won't.
According to www.kickoff.com (neither they nor Laduma, the two biggest SA soccer sites mentioned the match-stopping violence in their match reports), Pirates have been fined a total of R361 000 for four incidents since March 2011, "yet the club keeps getting penalised for more or less the same small amount, with the majority suspended".
The whole situation highlights the conflict of interest inherent in having a club chairman running the national league, we can only hope the Iron Duke recognises that and allows a rigorous inquiry into what happened at his own stadium.

Instead I suspect we will hear all about how referee Robert Smith was suspended last year for failing to send off an unnamed Jomo Cosmos player for an apparent red card offence against AmaZulu.

Pirates coach Augusto Palacios has already suggsted Smith was at fault for infuriating the Ghost, but this is NOT about inept refereeing.

Though PSL head of communications Connie Motshumi suggests there WILL be disciplinary proceedings, I predict a small fine and a rap over the knuckles for the PSL champions.

But here's what should happen. Benni McCarthy, despite his twittered apology on Sunday, should be fined and suspended by the club on top of the regulation PSL punishment for red card. His actions, rushing over to confront Franklin Cale after a foul on Daine Klate, inflamed the situation and ultimately cost Pirates the match. To his credit, Benni has admitted as much on twitter.

Secondly, the stewards should hauled over the coals for failing to apprehend bottle throwers, inept searches of fans entering the stadium and allowing entry to drunken supporters. Instead, they simply stood and watched as the missiles came down. In Europe, stewards immediately make their way in to the fans - no matter how angry they are - and eject offenders from the ground.

I'm not saying the Orlando stewards weren't brave - just unprepared for the trouble and lacking training in how to deal with such situations. In Britain, stewards DON'T watch the football, they spend the entire game with their backs to the action looking for troublemakers. They act immediately to forcibly remove missile throwers, racist chanters and fights. That's why they're there. 

Thirdly, the public address announcer failed to call for calm or an end to the throwing of bottles and fireworks - even when the game was briefly suspended when Rowen Fernandez' goal came under fire. The PA announced substitutions throughout, but failed to respond to the growing violence.

Fourthly, fans in rival shirts belonging to a third team must be turned away. The thought of attending a Spurs v Chelsea game in an Arsenal shirt is just unthinkable in London. The practice MUST be banned in South Africa. Specifically, Kaizer Chiefs fans must be told to remove their colours at Pirates matches, and vice versa.

And finally, Buccaneer fans, shocked to find a referee brave enough to brandish a red card in Orlando, should be excluded from the next home game – a “behind closed doors" policy UEFA regularly uses in these situations. It hits the club hard in the pocket and reinforces the punishment for bad behaviour.

These lessons, particularly the training of stewards, must be learned.

Otherwise South African football could find itself back in the bad old days of crowd violence, intimidation and poor policing that were a major part of the game here and in Europe thirty years ago. I know. I was there. And nobody wants that.