It is a good thing that AFC Leopards, or Ingwe as they prefer to be called, are scoring again. After quite acrimoniously parting ways with their prior-to-celebrated Coach Luc Aymael, the side have strung together a decent return of positive results under new Coach James Nandwa.
The problem with AFC Leopards is that they have formed a bad habit of summarily dismissing coaches whenever the team is not getting results. It could be explained like this, the team goes through a difficult period, meaning a few draws and losses. An abrupt press conference is called and before yoy say Ingokho! a coach is out of a job. Then a shortlist of high profile coaches is circulated, either none of them is ultimately hired (in which case a stand-in option is appointed ) or the least motivating of the lot is recruited and celebrated as the man to take Ingwe to greater heights.
In no time, the team is back registering wins and everyone rests happy. But in no time again, like a recurring nightmare, the bad results set in again and every body is taken back to square one. You could say it is a vicious circle, for indeed it is. We have seen the same thing happening with the likes of the late Chris Makhoha, Nick Yakhama, Twahir Muhiddin, Jan Koops, Tom Olaba (because some Portuguese guy failed to turn up), Luc Eymael. I am sure I have forgotten a few because the list should be longer than this. It is now James Nadwa's turn.
I am sure many fans share my belief in this man Nandwa. The few times he has been allowed to do his job he has done quite a commendable job. Often used as the fall back guy, he has proven more than once that he has the tools to get a job done. Like when he hastily shepherded a haphazardly assembled national under-23 side to the dreaded West African football hunting grounds, where nonetheless, he led the Kenyan lads to silence a fancied Guinean senior team, with whom Kenya drew 1-1. On the same tour, Nandwa's inexperienced charges managed to restrict Senegal to a 1-0 scoreline.
Coach Nandwa was also the man who was hastily asked to step in when Frenchman Henri Michel went AWOL on the National team. Against all odds, The stand-in coach took a nondescript Harambee Stars Team C all the way to the 2012 Tusker CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup final, before bowing out, quite gracefully, to a very determined Ugandan side.
Here is one man that the currently toothless Ingwe should hold on to and accord all the necessary support and time if they hope to regain their once feared status. Since taking over, the tactician has overseen seven consecutive wins for the club. The important thing, however, is not to fire the coach when the negative results stream in, although you can not get a guarantee on this from the trigger happy AFC Leopards management.
Speaking of trigger-happiness, it is a good thing, too, that the Ingwe side and their mashemejis, Champions-elect Gor Mahia FC, or Sirkaal, have joined hands together in a campaign aimed at promoting peaceful co-existence between their trigger-happy (again?) fans. This is a build-up promotion as we move towards the highly anticipated GOtv Shield Cup Mashemeji derby, where Gor will hope to bag their second trophy of the season, while Ingwe will do everything to deny them since they badly need a trophy themselves.
In fact, AFC Leopards should make sure the peace-promotion thing is restricted to the terraces. On the pitch, they should be as ruthlessly and as aggressively efficient as they have recently not been, considering that they have not managed to beat Gor Mahia in the recent past.
Now, one other piece of advice for Ingwe. Stop this habit of converting into a clearing house at the end of every season. What is the rationale of dispatching an entire group of footballers and recruiting an even bigger group of green-horns in its place? By all means be active in the transfer market, but in a positive way. Analyze your weak positions and strengthen in those, while doing every thing to retain your strong players.
As it has already been said all over the media, seven of the currently high riding Gor Mahia players were recruited as junior players by then Coach James Siang'a, who by the way was tolerated by management for a very long period of time, even as irate Gor Mahia fans literary bayed for his blood.
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