Outspoken former Bafana Bafana coach Jomo Sono says his former club Orlando Pirates and rivals Kaizer Chiefs do not have any special players in their ranks these days.

A forthright Sono told TimesLIVE that the two Soweto giants need special players to inspire the masses‚ which is not the case at the moment.

“Pirates still need a special person‚ Chiefs still needs an Ace Ntsoelengoe and unfortunately it’s not happening at the moment.

"I don’t know when they will find the players but hopefully they will‚” said Sono‚ a former Pirates star player who went on to form Jomo Cosmos after spending years in the US.

Pirates and Chiefs‚ who are in their fifth and fourth seasons without a trophy respectively in this period where bitter rivals Mamelodi Sundowns have dominated with three league titles‚ have failed to stamp their authority on the domestic scene.

Asked how he felt about Pirates' decision to hand his old No.10 jersey to midfielder Vincent Pule in the Caf Champions League‚ Sono said: “He (Pule) is okay for Pirates but you can’t compare him to me.

“I think the jersey was retired for local football because back then we were not playing in Caf competitions. I think on the continent they want a number 10.

"I don’t have any qualms‚ they can give the jersey to anybody they want. I am history and whoever they give‚ I say good luck and people must remember it is not the jersey that plays.

"It is the person that plays and the question is whether the person who is wearing the jersey now reminds the fans of the person who used to wear the jersey before.”

Pule is one of the current star players at Pirates and he saved their blushes on Tuesday night when his late header rescued a point for them in the 1-1 draw against Baroka at Orlando Stadium to take his tally in the Absa Premiership to six.

Some of the players who have been impressive for Pirates so far this season are Innocent Maela‚ Xola Mlambo‚ Thembinkosi Lorch‚ Justin Shonga‚ Augustine Mulenga and Ben Motshwari but they are not doing enough to impress the legendary Sono.

It's certainly been no smooth sailing at Chiefs after the Naturena club‚ who are on their third coach in less than a year since they parted ways with Steve Komphela and Givanni Solinas‚ were recently knocked out of the Caf Confederations Cup.