Abdeslam Ouaddou’s cry for more tolerance of Orlando Pirates players’ mistakes by the club’s fans is indicative of what’s wrong with the South African football supporter.
Here’s a team, Pirates, for the first time in a while mounting a meaningful challenge for the league title, and their coach must plead with the fans to be lenient with the players.
Following Pirates’ 6-0 win over TS Galaxy last weekend, Ouaddou couldn’t resist the temptation to attribute the emphatic result to a more relaxed environment in the cauldron of Mbombela Stadium.
“We enjoy these kinds of games, playing away in Durban or here (Mbombela). The people here support the players. It’s not people who boo the players when they make mistakes. You can see when people support the players, they give everything,” the Pirates coach told TV interviewers.
Ouaddou was indirectly having a dig at Pirates fans who frequent their home base, Orlando Amstel Arena. The previous week, Pirates laboured to a 1-1 draw with Siwelele at the venue, a result that elicited grumblings from the terraces as the Ghost thought Bucs were losing ground in the championship race with Mamelodi Sundowns.
True to expectations, Pirates indeed relinquished the top spot to Sundowns just a few days later, after the Brazilians beat Marumo Gallants.
But Pirates took full advantage against Galaxy, making the most of an early red card to the opposition to secure their biggest win of this season. Ouaddou attributing that performance to a relaxed atmosphere, where players were seemingly unafraid they would be heckled by fans, calls for an introspection from those who deride the squad in Bucs’ home games.
Now just a point ahead of Sundowns in the Betway Premiership, having amassed 51 points from 22 games, this is Pirates’ best chance in years to mount a serious challenge for the championship they last won in 2012.
I know Pirates have come close before – such as in 2018 and 2019 – when Sundowns pipped them in the closing stages of the season. But this time, they have looked the real deal.
Giving Pirates some advantage is the fact that Sundowns still have to contend with the CAF Champions League, having reached the semifinals last weekend. A gruelling two-legged tie with Tunisia’s Esperance awaits Masandawana next month, while Pirates can fully focus on the title battle.
Why, then, would Pirates fans not be excited about the prospect of becoming the first side in nine years to stop Sundowns from winning the league? Ouaddou’s appeal is simple: help the team get over the line.
Not since 2020, when Sundowns pipped Kaizer Chiefs on the final day, has the championship race been so interesting.
Over the last four seasons, Sundowns have enjoyed an inexorable, unchallenged run which turned our league into a laughable one-horse race. The margins have been so big we might as well have not bothered having a competition. In 2021, Sundowns accumulated 65 points and the second-best team, Cape Town City, got a mere 49.
The gap was similarly 16 points the following year, with Pirates’ 54 a sizeable distance from Downs’ 70. In 2022/23, the gap was a massive 23 points as Sundowns set a record for league champions, while last year, even with two fewer matches because Royal AM were expelled, Pirates finished a distant 12 points behind.
After years of enduring a monotonous one-sided affair, we finally have a title race to speak of, thanks to Ouaddou turning Pirates into a competitive force. The last thing he wants is to feel as though the people who must back the team at this crucial time, turn on the players at the slightest sight on difficulty.
