New Orlando Pirates coach Rhulani Mokwena has hit out at critics and stories about his role at the club and relationship with the departed Milutin Sredojevic.

Sredojevic resigned as Pirates coach on Friday citing personal problems as the reason. The club has now turned to Mokwena to step up from his role as assistant to lead them going forward.

Mokwena will have the chance to prove himself as the head coach after turning down a number of chances in the past.

There have been a number of people who have claimed that Mokwena had pushed the Serbian coach out of the club, but speaking to the media after Pirates’ 1-0 loss to Highlands Park in the MTN8 on Saturday Mokwena opened up about his relationship with Micho.

@orlandopirates coach Mokwena on his relationship with Micho after the loss to @HighlandsP_FC in the #MTN8 #WafaWafa pic.twitter.com/OMibVBdaa5

— Dean Workman (@DeanoWorks) August 17, 2019

‘There are a lot of conspiracy theories going around and a lot phycological experts speaking about my relationship with Micho, not knowing how close we are and how affected I was by the news. It’s unfortunate that the personal issues have been going on for quite some time and were affecting him. But we must respect that space,’ said Mokwena.

‘We are feeling a lot as a club. All we have to do is stick together and raise our level of performance – in the last three matches we have not played the way we would expect Orlando Pirates to play,’ he concluded.

Sredojevic has since been confirmed as the new coach of Egyptian giants Zamalek and Pirates are yet to comment on the news.