Sam joined Pirates at the end of last season and, following a slow start at due to a lack of game-time under previous coaches Milutin Sredojevic and Rhulani Mokwena, respectively, there had been a glimpse of hope for the 22-year-old left-back prior to the PSL break that began in mid-March.
He made his Pirates debut and secured consecutive starts against Highlands Park and AmaZulu FC, respectively, in January. The Buccaneers won both matches, with Sam proving his worth with solid performances before he was dropped, though Zinnbauer explained that he was protecting the Port Elizabeth-born player as he gradually introduces him to their set-up.
Speaking to the Siya crew, Sam’s representative, Bevan Dicks, believes that the South African youth international has still got a bright future at Bucs, despite the reports linking him with an exit.
“Bongani is young and he came out of doing very well at Highlands Park, where they were fighting for promotion in the First Division, and was on loan from Celtic. Then, he went back to Celtic and he had a very, very, good season at Celtic after playing almost 30 games. I would say at one of the bigger clubs in South Africa, in Orlando Pirates, it’s always going to be difficult,” said Dicks.
“Before he went to Pirates, I told him, ‘Listen, you’re going to a big team and you need to understand that you are going to have to fight for your place and work hard for that.’ He understood that and it’s a step that he wanted to take,” he said.
“The boy’s got the ability and he needs to fight for his place and I’m sure under the new coach, he needs to impress. He’s got Innocent Maela that he is fighting with, who’s a na-tional team left back, so he needs to work hard and fight for his place,” Dicks added.
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