Badela confident Baloni will impress at Pirates
Coach urges Bucs faithful to allow midfielder to settle
Image: Lefty Shivambu
The man who last coached recently sold All Stars, Sinethemba Badela, has thrown his weight behind Siphelo Baloni to prove himself and succeed at his new club Orlando Pirates.
Baloni was one of the four players unveiled by the Buccaneers alongside Katlego Otladisa, Melusi Buthelezi and Patrick Maswanganyi on Tuesday as they strengthened their team ahead of the new season.
The 23-year-old was identified as one of the best midfielders in the Motsepe Foundation Championship with consistent displays for All Stars before they were recently sold to Black Leopards.
Badela, who worked with the player last season, said he was not surprised by the move as he feels the midfielder is going to make a difference at his new club.
“It is a well-deserved move because firstly, he is very talented and he is a very good person. He works hard and he has been in the second tier for a couple of seasons now,” Badela told Sowetan yesterday.
“He is a player that we have been following for a while, when he was at JDR, we got an opportunity to sign him at the beginning of last season.
“One of the first things I said to him was ‘we will try to take your football to the next level’, and he’s done well. He is a player that works very hard. He watches his games and he invests a lot in his football and he is very disciplined.
“So, I’m not surprised by the move that he just made.”
While the midfielder will face stiff competition in the midfield, Badela is confident that should the player be given an opportunity, he will impress.
“It is a different level, so it will require him to do more than what he has been doing because the level is higher,” Badela said.
“I don’t think he will struggle at Pirates, but of course, he will need a little bit of time to adapt because the league is different. The Premiership is more tactical, whereas the second tier is more physical.
The coach also urged the Bucs faithful to show patience with the player and allow him time to settle. “Sometimes the players need that little bit of time to adapt, but from the friendlies that I’ve seen against Premiership teams, I don’t sense he will need a lot of time.”