Having had a captain who hardly got game time in the last three seasons, in the just-retired Innocent Maela, Orlando Pirates should perhaps guard against this when they choose Maela's successor ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
Tapelo Xoki, who struggled with game time as well last season, and Nkosinathi Sibisi look to be favourites to be the next Pirates skipper. Sibisi, who turns 30 in September, skippered Bucs in most of their games last season as Maela and Xoki were on the fringes.
Even so, Edward “Magents” Motale, who captained the Buccaneers in his heyday, is vouching for Xoki to inherit the captaincy from Maela.
“Since Maela is no longer there, I think Xoki must be the captain because he was like Maela's deputy last season already and he is a disciplined guy who is so gentle,” Motale told Sowetan on Monday.
If you don't appoint Xoki as a captain, the harmony in that dressing room would be affected big time because he's been there and led well whenever he was standing in for Maela.
— Edward “Magents” Motale
“Xoki has always been there for the team even when he was dealing with family issues and it would be unfair to say he mustn't be the captain because he didn't play much last season, especially because we don't know who'll play under the new coach [Abdeslam Ouaddou, who joined last week to succeed Jose Riveiro].”
Motale added that snubbing Xoki would also hit the harmony in the dressing room hard. The 30-year-old Xoki, who was also the captain at his previous club AmaZulu, before joining Pirates in June 2022, started just 12 of the 19 games he played last term.
“If you don't appoint Xoki as a captain, the harmony in that dressing room would be affected big time because he's been there and led well whenever he was standing in for Maela,” Motale noted.
Motale also explained his role in inducting Bucs' recruits to the team after appearing in trending pictures, alongside other former club captains in Lucky Lekgwathi, Happy Jele and Maela, speaking with newcomers such as Sipho Mbule, Sihle Nduli, Yanela Mbuthuma and Tshepang Moremi, among others, last week.
“Mine was simple, I was telling these boys what Pirates are and what the expectations are. I also advised them to invest well because football is a short career.”
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