Orlando Pirates coach Milutin Sredojevic has defended assistant Rhulani Mokwena for suggesting that Kaizer Chiefs mentor Giovanni Solinas is inferior to Steve Komphela.
Mokwena made the statement in the lead-up to last weekend’s Soweto derby and said that Chiefs were better organised under Komphela than they are with Solinas in charge.
The comments caused great reaction from supporters and fans alike as the now Bloemfontein Celtic manager failed to win a trophy in his three-year spell with Amakhosi.
Some in the football fraternity suggested it was mind-games whereas others took the view that Mokwena was disrespecting the Italian and Chiefs.
Nonetheless, ‘Micho‘ has suggested the words said were a part of a strategy employed by the Sea Robbers management.
He told reporters: “I need to give credit to the technical team, especially coach Rhulani, who had an outing that had misdirected and counted as disrespect to the opponent team, which was not.
“It is a part of the game, it could motivate the opponent to come at us. After missing the penalty (by Justin Shonga), it was not easy, but God had plans for us. We worked very hard.
“I want to give absolute credit to coach Rhulani and the technical team for working hard and touching every single detail that played an important role for us to win (2-1).
“I will not go deeper and further but I can assure you that the mission was accomplished, we won the game and that’s all that counts.”
