Regardless of an impressive outing for young Thabiso Sesane in Pirates win over Maritzburg at the weekend, former defender Tonic Chabalala has advised Zinnbauer to keep captain Happy Jele and Thilani Hlatshwayo as the regulars in the heart of defence.
The absence of Jele and Hlatshwayo for Pirates gave Sesane a chance to make his first start of the season. In what was a rare start for the teenager, he made the most of the chance afforded to him and was even awarded the Man of the Match afterwards.
So far this season, the youngster’s only other appearance for Pirates came in a two-minute cameo from the bench against Cape Town City back in February.
For Pirates’ most recent outing, Jele missed out due to injury while Hlatshwayo was unavailable because of suspension. Regardless of a fine showing from Sesane, former Pirated defender Tonic Chabalala would prefer to see the experienced duo retain their spots at the back.
“It’s always the case when you are a new player at Pirates and given a chance to play you want to rise to the occasion, especially if you are a youngster. The boy (Sesane) is still young and he’s got that hunger. My worry is that our players lack consistency and I wish the boy can be consistent. You can’t have a great game in one match and in the next one you are nowhere to be found. I’m hoping that the boy will be given another chance to continue with his progress. Pirates have got a lot of players and everyone wants to get an opportunity to play,” said Chabalala.
“But for a coach it can be difficult to please everyone and one of his (Josef Zinnbauer) duties is to motivate everybody to be hungry to play. But every player signed by Pirates should always be ready to step in whenever called to do duty for the team. I still believe that Tyson and Happy can do the job for Pirates. Sometimes in football the maturity of players plays a big role because it’s difficult for young players to win league titles on their own. They need guidance from experienced players. I still believe that Tyson and Jele can do well playing alongside each other,” he added.
While it may come too soon for Sesane to seal a regular run in the starting lineup, he has already shown he is one for the future and can only get better with age.