'I'm not worried about what the other PSL teams are doing' - Muhsin Ertugral

22 June 2016 - 15:20 By Nick Said

New Orlando Pirates coach Muhsin Ertugral will sit down with the club next week and plot further signings for the team as he looks to build a squad capable of challenging for league honours next season.And Ertugral has revealed to Times Media Digital that he does expect further signings as he attempts to lower the average age of the squad.Already the club has had offers accepted by Ajax Cape Town for Abbubaker Mobara‚ 22‚ and Riyaad Norodien‚ 21‚ as well as AS Vita Club forward Bernard Morrison‚ 23. FC Cape Town say they have sold midfielder Marshall Munetsi‚ 20‚ to The Buccaneers.“I’m still in Europe [as part of FIFA’s Technical Study Group at Euro 2016] but when I am back in South Africa next week I will sit down with the club and see what quality players are out there‚” Ertugral says.Buccaneers reinforce for new season“We will have this discussion together and plot a way forward. Hopefully there will be more signings‚ it is important to look at more youth but we must only bring in players that will add quality to the squad.”Ertugral has won seven trophies while coaching South African clubs‚ most notably Kaizer Chiefs and Ajax Cape Town‚ but never the league title.There will be an expectation among Pirates fans that the team does compete for the championship in 2016/17‚ but with Mamelodi Sundowns sweeping all before them last season‚ and major revamps of the squads expected at Kaizer Chiefs‚ BidVest Wits and SuperSport United‚ it will be a huge challenge for a side that finished seventh in the Absa Premiership last season.“I know that it’s important to win trophies at Orlando Pirates‚ I think that my record shows that I can do that. But it is also important to produce the right type of football.“I think with the players that we have at Pirates already and the players that we have brought in‚ of course this is possible.“I am not worried about what the other teams are doing‚ I can only concentrate on my side and what I can do with this squad. What happens elsewhere is not my concern.”Ertugral says it is likely that the team will play a different tactical style than under former coach Eric Tinkler‚ one that suits the squad he assembles.“I need to find the right tactical pattern that suits the team and the players we have. We will work hard on changing systems and our organisation if we feel we need to.”Ertugral joins a growing list of coaches to have led both Chiefs and Pirates in their careers‚ which includes most recently Vladimir Vermezovic and Kosta Papic‚ but also Augusto Palacios‚ Ted Dumitru‚ Joe Frickleton and Geoff Hudson‚ who remarkably coached both sides in the 1993 season. “It’s a privilege for me. A big privilege‚” he says. - TMG Digital..

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