Orlando Pirates

Rhulani Mokwena says Mamelodi Sundowns are preparing well for their upcoming CAF Champions League encounter with Al Ahly on Saturday. Photo: @Masandawana/Twitter

Rhulani responds to Orlando Pirates coach Ncikazi on Woolworths comments

‘Sundowns buy at Woolworths, and we buy at Pick n Pay and Spar’ said Orlando Pirates’ Mandla Ncikazi. Now here’s Rhulani Mokwena reply…

Orlando Pirates

Rhulani Mokwena says Mamelodi Sundowns are preparing well for their upcoming CAF Champions League encounter with Al Ahly on Saturday. Photo: @Masandawana/Twitter

Orlando Pirates coach Mandla Ncikazi was obviously going to ruffle a few feathers with his latest strong opinion.

NCIKAZI SAYS ORLANDO PIRATES SHOP AT LOWER MARKET STORES THAN THE CHAMPIONS

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As The South African reported on Friday morning, the Bucs co-coach essentially called for a financial fair play rule to be set in Mzansi, the same way it was established in Europe.

We must cap the… finances [and have] financial fair play because Covid has affected a lot of teams, whether it’s supporters, in terms of revenue and most teams have been affected but Sundowns have not been affected,” Ncikazi said as quoted by iDiskiTimes.

“Some teams are playing with development players, getting young players. Most developments were closed, SAFA was closed but Sundowns buys at Woolworths, and we buy at Pick n Pay and Spar.

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“If Spar and Pick n Pay are closed we can’t buy, I think it’s a scenario like that, they buy what’s ready, maybe that’s the difference – we just need to be competitive,” he added.

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RHULANI MOKWENA RESPONDS TO NCIKAZI

Meanwhile, it has not taken long for the Sundowns camp to give feedback. What better person to reply to the comments that coach Rhulani Mokwena?

The former Pirates coach said he rather not respond but still somewhat did anyway…

“I’m not going to respond to what coach Mandla said because a couple of weeks ago I read one of your articles where he said Pirates is on the same space as Sundowns and then a couple of weeks later it’s Woolworths and Shoprite,” Mokwena said as quote by iDiskiTimes‘ Lorenz Kohler.

“I don’t want to go there out of respect because you guys should be the ones questioning the consistency with the answers. It’s for the media, because what we say as coaches is very important in educating the supporters in trying to paint a picture closer to realism than obscurity.

“But if you ask what is it we’ve done, five championships in a row – you speak of different coaches with that five championships. You can’t go into that space without considering the hard work that was done by the previous technical team under the previous leadership.

“You speak of a different group of players because there are ones who won the first championship before it became the fifth in a row. You had Hlompho Kekana’s and [Tebogo] Langerman and so many others.

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Therefore, also without appreciating their contribution and hard work to where this club is and the brand that we see today, the respect the jersey now upholds and the pressure this current generation has to play under, is because of the previous generation and they have to be recognised for their contributions.”

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