Ngobeni: 'Things didn't go as planned at Pirates'

Midfielder Clifford Ngobeni admits he struggled to find his best form while out on loan from parent-club Orlando Pirates.

The 32-year-old former Ajax Cape Town midfielder joined Bucs in 2010.

He was sent on loan to Golden Arrows in 2012 and ultimately signed for Black Aces in 2013.

He now plays for the University of Pretoria in the GladAfrica Championship.

Ngobeni was tipped for a bright future at Bucs but found himself loaned out following a change of manager.

Ngobeni told KickOff: "You know the big teams are always recruiting, recruiting. At some point when Ruud Krol left and they appointed a Brazilian coach [Julio Leal], after I fell out of favour I asked for a loan.

"Things didn't go as planned regarding the loan issue, there was a lot of drama. It was stressful and it put me back in my career. I was going in and out of court. I ended up being not registered, so ja."

Reflecting on his time with Pirates, Ngobeni added: "For me I didn't fail. I achieved what I wanted to achieve. Maybe I couldn't be there for my whole four-year contract but for being chosen to play for Pirates and winning three trophies, I mean it's a big thing.

Ngobeni added that he wanted to join Bloemfontein Celtic from Ajax but ultimately chose Bucs.

"Because Bloemfontein Celtic at that time you know they had a good team, they had a good support structure, the place where the team is based... they had something good going for them.

"Looking at the supporters as well it was one of the teams in South Africa that was going to get bigger at that time. But unfortunately that didn't happen."

- TEAMtalk media