Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has stressed he believes it is a minority of the club’s supporters who are turning on their own players after much-maligned goalkeeper Siyabonga Mpontshane became the latest target of Bucs’ boo brigade on Sunday.

Mpontshane’s battles with form and costly mistakes have seen new signing Sipho Chaine fielded between the posts. The former Chippa United man had a solid showing as Pirates swept Stellenbosch FC aside 4-1 in their DStv Premiership outing at Orlando Stadium on Sunday.

At one stage Chaine went down for medical attention. As Mpontshane warmed up, a section of supporters booed the keeper, who gestured back as if to say, “What’s going on?”. Chaine recovered and finished the game.

Last week Riveiro appealed to Bucs’ fans to support their players after forward Terrence Dzvukamanja was booed coming off the bench. The Zimbabwean striker went on to break a 1-1 deadlock as Pirates ran out 3-1 winners against Lamontville Arrows in Durban thanks to two injury-time strikes.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to not support one of our players when he’s just about to go on the field and replace another player,” Riveiro said when asked about the hostile reception directed at Mpontshane.

“It’s nice when you are playing away and the fans are bullying you and you get motivated by that. It’s not nice when you’re playing on your home ground.

“But I answered this question last week and when you write your report I would appreciate it a lot if you include the first part of my answer, not only the last part.

“I think we are making an issue about something where we are talking about a small number of people.

“Overall the people who come to our stadium are not doubting our players and are supporting us until the end.

“When we play away the support we get is crazy. I’ve never seen something like that in my life.

“So [we say] only thank you to our fans, and also the ones who cannot afford to come to the stadium.

“I think we shouldn’t make an issue about this [the booing] but at the same time bullying is something terrible in every scenario — at school, in the stadium, in the office.

“It’s something we all should take seriously because it’s costing some things that we don’t always want to talk about. But it’s something too deep to talk about now.

“I’m so happy with ‘Pontshe’ [Mpontshane], his professionalism and how he’s handling the situation. He’s a strong guy.”

Pirates went up to fourth place from a second straight win against Stellies. They meet Marumo Gallants next at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg on Saturday.

Image: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images

Writer : By Marc Strydom