Former Orlando Pirates manager on why Rivero's exit has no bearing on their Triple Crown loss

Former Orlando Pirates defender Edward Motale has spoken about how the departure of Spanish coach Jose Rivero will not affect the team's loss of the three possible trophies this season, as the Spanish veteran parted ways with the Pirates before reaching the end of his contract with the South African side.

Orlando Pirates' campaign has taken a dramatic downturn since announcing in April that head coach Jose Riveiro would be leaving at season's end. The initial announcement came while the Buccaneers were still competing on three fronts - the Betway Premiership title race, Nedbank Cup, and CAF Champions League.

However, the team's form has nosedived spectacularly since then, managing just three victories in their last eight outings. The once-promising season has unraveled completely, with painful eliminations in the CAF Champions League semifinals followed by a heartbreaking Nedbank Cup final defeat to arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs.

No, I don’t think there was an impact because of the announcement. There was nothing like that, I feel that our players just relaxed too much. So what demoralised them is not the coach’s departure. After they realised that Sundowns had all but won the league title, that’s where everything dropped psychologically and mentally. They began to lose focus after they realised that the league was gone. So you needed a psychologist at that moment. Even now, when the coach leaves, they still need a psychologist who can help them mentally because losing these cups will also affect some of them.

Motale said to FARpost.