Hogging headlines because of ill-conceived comments seems to be Mandla Ncikazi’s pastime but this outburst after Orlando Pirates’ defeat to Simba at the weekend has to take the cake.

Ncikazi went on a tirade in the press conference after Pirates were sunk by the Tanzanian side, protesting Pirates had faced “hostility” and had been “treated like animals”, in comments which raised legitimate eyebrows but left some of us feeling the coach may once again have been demonstrating his own lack of international experience.

Just a few months ago, Ncikazi attracted interest when he intimated the Africa Cup of Nations was not a tournament of higher stature than the PSL, in what was the first sign that perhaps he’s out of touch when it comes to international football trends and norms.

But Sunday’s rant, while it won him loud but equally ignorant sympathisers, served to expose him even further.

For starters, Ncikazi was not specific as to what kind of treatment and hostility Pirates faced. He then spoke of the malfunctioning of VAR and a penalty won by Bernard Morrison as dubious. But just on the VAR, some would say it was actually a blessing in disguise that it was not functional, given the horrors it delivered in CAF matches last weekend.

I would have been more interested to hear Ncikazi pinpoint how Pirates were “treated like animals”, only to find a few videos circulating on social media where their players were seemingly initially barred from entering the dressing room at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium. In the videos, some harsh words were exchanged among security personnel and the players were then allowed through.

Ncikazi will have been at Orlando Stadium when the Pirates security manhandled TS Galaxy owner Tim Sukazi as he tried to make his way into the stadium dressing rooms. Galaxy’s media officer later opened a case of assault, saying he was slapped during the fracas. Last year, Pirates security barred Bafana coach Hugo Broos from entering the stadium even when he was accredited.

We should assume Ncikazi, privately, viewed those incidences as treatment that could be meted out only to animals, hence his misgivings with what he saw in Dar es Salam.

But suppose he had travelled with Bafana during his playing days when he was at African Wanderers, Ncikazi would probably not have moaned that much. He would have been in tune with the nonexistent standards SA teams are accustomed to in continental football. It has become so rare, for instance, to hear Mamelodi Sundowns bemoan a heavy schedule, poor treatment or hostility during their CAF sojourns, because all that has become part of their life.

Pirates, too, have extensive experience on the continent. If Ncikazi needed a reference about hostility, he could have asked Happy Jele about the reception Bucs got in 2013 when they faced Al Ahly in the Champions League final second leg in Cairo. But alas, at the time Ncikazi was still learning the ropes as an up-and-coming coach in the obscurity of Maritzburg United.

If he had played in the Afcon, Ncikazi would not have spoken so disparagingly about it, because he would have had first-hand experience.

But we have to hope that he’s learning the ropes and in future will accept that some things will never change, no matter how loud you scream. Better late than never, I guess.