Former Orlando Pirates defender Gavin Lane has botched to blame the imminent departure of coach Jose Riveiro for the club’s Cup final defeat to Kaizer Chiefs.
Pirates missed the chance to end the current season with silverware, falling in the Cup final to their neighbors, Kaizer Chiefs, with many football fanatic attributing the defeat to the departure of head coach Jose Riveiro.
But the former Pirates defender thinks otherwise, saying, “I don’t think the announcement of the coach’s departure had any impact. I’ve played in matches where we knew it was the coach’s last season. But you want to win trophies for the coach so that, when he leaves, he has a collection of medals.
When you lose all those cups, you have to pull yourselves together for the next season. If this had happened in our era, the players would have united. We always wanted to win, no matter what. That’s how it should be. Maybe the players today don’t play the way we used to,” Lane said.
Riveiro played his last game for Orlando Pirates in the South African Premier League on Tuesday as he depart the club for a new challenge.
He sat on the bench for the last time when his outfit cruised to a resounding 3-0 win over Golden Arrows in a highly competitive clash.
