Orlando Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi would have loved to add new players to Bucs squad during the transfer window but hints the reason for the lack of new additions is due to the club's hierarchy.
Pirates not only failed to sign any new players during the January transfer window but also did not release any of their squad either. As things stand the Buccaneers remain unchanged for the rest of 2022.
“There is no coach that has ever been happy with the squad. We are always ambitious if we have enough resources like others,” Ncikazi told the media.
“We are never enough. There are areas that you wish (to beef up) but sometimes the timing of bringing players becomes important in our team. Personally, I would have loved to have certain players. But we respect the process within the club on how they do things.”
Ncikazi explained the reason they did not release any players was because Pirates would have needed to buy new players to replace the ones that would have left.
“You cannot take out players without bringing in new ones. Covid has taught me to expect the unexpected. Based on what is happening with Covid, you can’t have a very thin squad with the club being involved with CAF competition. We will need a lot of players,” said Ncikazi.
“If you look at the fixture list that we are going to be engaged in, we are going to rotate the players using some in the league, so we cannot release without bringing in.
“I think the club has taken a direction of continuity. I prefer working with a player who has been in the set up rather than bringing in a new player who will need time to adjust,” said Ncikazi.
On Sunday, Pirates host AmaZulu FC in the Nedbank Cup Round of 32 (15h00) at Orlando Stadium.
