While speculation mounts that Orlando Pirates head coach Eric Tinkler is on the verge of being shown the door‚ former Buccaneers striker Jerry Sikhosana has come out in defence of him.

Sikhosana said on Friday that Pirates’ failure to win silverware this past season cannot be blamed on Tinkler alone.

Instead‚ many factors that contributed in the team not doing as well as expected by its demanding supporters.

Sacking Tinkler would be a bad idea‚ said the man going by the “Legs of Thunder” moniker.

“You cannot fault Tinkler‚” Sikhosana added.

“When one looks at the many matches Pirates played last season‚ since they were also campaigning in the Caf Confederations Cup‚ it becomes easier to understand why their season became what it was.

“Fatigue took its toll on players and they lost key players such as Oupa Manyisa and Happy Jele to injuries — therefore blaming the coach is rather unfair.”

Sikhosana was confident that Tinkler would do better next season if given the opportunity.

The only thing needed at Pirates‚ he added‚ was bolstering the goalkeeping and centre-back departments for Bucs fans to be “happy people” again.