Deon Hotto says there is no relationship between him and Thembinkosi Lorch

By Velile Mnyandu
23rd July 2024

Orlando Pirates and Namibian international utility player Deon Hotto says there’s no relationship between him and his former teammate Thembinkosi Lorch, who moved to Mamelodi Sundowns at the beginning of the year.

Revelations came out during a recent TV production of Pirates “Change Room,” where Hotto’s teammate Paseka Mako dropped a bombshell, saying that there was an element of jealousy in the camp towards Hotto.

Mako revealed that the situation was so bad that Lorch and Hotto were not greeting each other, an issue that divided the Bucs changeroom.

But Hotto reveals he's still willing to mend ways between himself and Lorch.

"No, there's no relationship because he's not here anymore and actually, I had to settle this with him but it was about time the league was finishing. So, I went to the national team for AFCON, and while I was still that side I just heard that he also left. So, we haven't actually met or sat down," Hotto said.

READ: Sead Ramovic leaves TS Galaxy to join Raja Casablanca

In this “Change Room” documentary, Hotto also disclosed that some of his teammates were unhappy with his constant selection for matches, with head coach Jose Riveiro selecting him in different positions.

This appears to have led to the conflict in the camp, but Hotto sees nothing wrong with the coach’s decision.

"No, it's not about one of your best players, it's all about what you do at training because for me to play in this role now I had to sit down also with the coach. Sometimes people don't understand, when I played position number 3, Mako went for surgery, Maela [Innocent] was out for surgery so who was gonna play there now? Are we gonna play Patrick [Maswanganyi] there or Rele [Relebohile Mofokeng] there? I don't think so because their defending qualities are not that good," he added.

"So, the coach had to look into me and play me there, so I told him, okay coach I will try my level best and yeah I played, I did well in some games I wasn't well because it's not my position.

“So yeah, from there it went, it went, it went, coach kept playing me there up to now because Mako is not yet fully fit. Maela came back now, if the coach asked me to play striker, I will tell him, coach, I will play it my level best."