Sandilands ponders his future with Pirates

Veteran Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands will accept any decision the club will make regarding his future.

Sandilands, who will turn 39 in August, spent the previous season helping the Buccaneers goalkeepers with training after goalkeeper coach Andrew Sparkes left.

As a result, he didn’t appear in a single competitive match and with his contract coming to end this month, Sandilands revealed that talks are ongoing but he is not sure whether they will give him the goalkeeper coaching job permanently.

“We are still deciding that; I can’t give you a definite answer at this point. We are still negotiating through these waters and we will see,” Sandilands told the media at Fun Valley, where he is attending the Fifa advanced goalkeeper coaching course.

“We will see what happens and we will take it from there, but obviously you look to add this opportunity that comes now in terms of the course. It is something that you need to grab because the last time something like this happened was in 2011.”

Sandilands insists he is happy to remain with the Soweto giants. “The body still feels good and there are few options on the table and I’m at the point in my career where I’m ready for any scenario. It doesn’t have to be one or another like a year ago,” he said.

“I’m happy at Pirates. I have been there for five years. I love the club and I’m invested in the club, to be part of the family.”

With Richard Ofori and Siyabonga Mpontshane being the preferred goalkeepers last season, Sandilands, who was coaching them, was pleased with their performances.

“It is always a position that will always be closely watched and scrutinised. I think if you look at the stats, it is always quite competitive in terms of the number of clean sheets kept, number of goals conceded. So in every department there will always be room for improvement, whether it is individually... all the keepers will probably say there is always room to improve and grow your game.

“But I don’t think it is in a bad space. I think there is good quality there and I think there are enough stats to back it up, so it is definitely not a crisis department.”