The 17th round of matches in the 2010 Kenya Premier League Season saw a flurry of exciting goals, with KCB's Ezekiel Odera surely the toast of the round with his fantastic hat-trick against Karuturi Sports.
Sofapaka rediscovered their groove with a four-nil bashing of Red Berets in the policemen's own backyard, and Gor Mahia continued their fascinating displays with a two-nil hiding for former champions Tusker.
Amidst these appetizing displays on the pitches, the monster of football mismanagement in the country returned with its unwanted distraction yet again. The Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG) reminded us of the extent of malignancy bedevilling local football.
In Its report titled "Foul Play: the crisis of football management in Kenya", AfriCOG concludes that poor leadership and governance structures, unaccountability by local football administrators, and FIFA's partiality have all contributed to the degeneration of the beautiful game in the country .
The belligerence being exhibited by the so called local soccer chiefs does not offer any hope of this scenario changing any time soon.
The two warring factions stubbornly continue to hold on to their regressive positions in spite of the deep desire of Kenyans to see an end to the disruptive infighting, which has recently seen Kenya's promising midfielder Macdonald Mariga failing to secure a work permit to play in the English Premier League and also turned Harambee Stars players to armchair players during the recently concluded World Cup 2010, never mind the exciting fact that it was being held in Africa for the first time.
Already other countries are mapping their strategies for the 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifiers and even the 2014 World Cup to be hosted by Brazil, but don't be surprised to see our soccer administrators suddenly springing into action a week or two to Kenya's first qualifier for the 2012 Afcon only to rue missed chances at the end of the qualifiers.
It is not all gloom though, as the Kenya Premier League's recent matches have shown. The league's professional organisation with the helping hand of Supersport is seeing a gradual return of entertaining football to our stadiums, and quality players are being lured back to play here too.
Apart from the sizeable army of foreign players who have signed for the various clubs in the country, we are seeing quality Kenyan players that had ventured abroad in search of greener pastures trooping back home, obviously courtesy of improved terms being offered by the re-energised KPL clubs. Among the latest arrivals are Osborn Monday back from Azam FC of Tanzania, defender George Owino of Tanzania's Yanga and Allan Wanga, who could not secure a work permit in time to turn out for Europa League-bound Baku FC of Azebaijan.
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AFC Leopard's Coach Chris Makokha's resignation was bound to happen sooner rather than later, owing to the pedestrian results that the once mighty club continues to register in the league and the immense pressure exerted by the club's ultra-demanding fans.
The veteran coach reminded soccer fans that his association with the club stretches back to the glory era of the nineteen seventies and eighties. Perhaps that is in itself an adequate hint that Ingwe should seriously think of how far the game has evolved when recruiting the next manager.
03 September 2012
21 July 2012
Tusker's poor performance at CECAFA: how low we have sunk !
After two forgettable displays at the ongoing CECAFA Kagame Cup, Tusker joined whipping boys Wau Salaam of South Sudan and Ports SC of Djibouti as the first casualties of the regional club competition.
When the draw placed five time champions Tusker in group B together with minnows Mafunzo of Zanzibar and Azam of Tanzania, many Tusker fans must have sighed with relief. This is especially so considering that group A had three big clubs - Simba SC of Tanzania, Uganda's URA FC and Vita Club, the guest club from Congo DR.
Group C, which was tagged the group of death, also consisted of three big guns namely, Yanga of Tanzania, Atletico from Burundi and Rwanda's army outfit APR FC.
With such a seemingly favourable draw for the beer men from Ruaraka, it seemed a foregone conclusion that they would roll over their opponents and find themselves in the quarter finals without breaking a sweat. The opposite was the case, however, right from the first match when Tusker played out an embarrassing 0-0 draw against Mafunzo FC.
This result meant that Tusker had to win their next match against money-laden Azam FC, or at worst, force a 2-2 draw so as to eliminate Mafunzo. The Kenyan defending champions, however, returned to Dar es Salaam's National Stadium in worse shape than they were during their first match.
Obviously lacking creativity of any kind and sticking to an unproductive snail-paced approach, the team struggled to open up Azam's defence. Soon after, they resorted to wastefully shooting long balls into Azam's danger area.
Captain Joseph Shikokoti, who had managed a slightly decent performance against Mafunzo, had a performance to forget this time round. A blunt Azam forward line almost had the defender to thank for a gift of a goal when he powerfully headed towards his own goal, with goalkeeper Boniface Oluoch luckily preventing the ball from hitting the net.
The lowest point of Shikokoti's display was yet to come. It came courtesy of a school boy blunder. With an Azam striker breathing down his neck as he faced his keeper, the gigantic defender hesitated and left all defensive duty to Oluoch, who under the circumstances had no option other than committing a foul on the Azam player, earning a straight red card as a result.
Just like in the match against Mafunzo, Tusker's few chances came late in the match. One such opportunity involved substitute Obadiah Ndege, whose charge towards Azam's goal was suddenly halted a few yards from the Tanzanians' penalty area. Ndege's meek response when the resultant free kick rebounded towards him aptly summarised Tusker's miserable campaign.
Talk of leaving the party with a whimper when every one expected you were the guy to steal the show. With performances such as these, perhaps we should refrain from gloating and bragging about how our league has improved after professional management by the Kenya Premier League and cash injections by South Africa's Supersport and other sponsors.
When the draw placed five time champions Tusker in group B together with minnows Mafunzo of Zanzibar and Azam of Tanzania, many Tusker fans must have sighed with relief. This is especially so considering that group A had three big clubs - Simba SC of Tanzania, Uganda's URA FC and Vita Club, the guest club from Congo DR.
Group C, which was tagged the group of death, also consisted of three big guns namely, Yanga of Tanzania, Atletico from Burundi and Rwanda's army outfit APR FC.
With such a seemingly favourable draw for the beer men from Ruaraka, it seemed a foregone conclusion that they would roll over their opponents and find themselves in the quarter finals without breaking a sweat. The opposite was the case, however, right from the first match when Tusker played out an embarrassing 0-0 draw against Mafunzo FC.
This result meant that Tusker had to win their next match against money-laden Azam FC, or at worst, force a 2-2 draw so as to eliminate Mafunzo. The Kenyan defending champions, however, returned to Dar es Salaam's National Stadium in worse shape than they were during their first match.
Obviously lacking creativity of any kind and sticking to an unproductive snail-paced approach, the team struggled to open up Azam's defence. Soon after, they resorted to wastefully shooting long balls into Azam's danger area.
Captain Joseph Shikokoti, who had managed a slightly decent performance against Mafunzo, had a performance to forget this time round. A blunt Azam forward line almost had the defender to thank for a gift of a goal when he powerfully headed towards his own goal, with goalkeeper Boniface Oluoch luckily preventing the ball from hitting the net.
The lowest point of Shikokoti's display was yet to come. It came courtesy of a school boy blunder. With an Azam striker breathing down his neck as he faced his keeper, the gigantic defender hesitated and left all defensive duty to Oluoch, who under the circumstances had no option other than committing a foul on the Azam player, earning a straight red card as a result.
Just like in the match against Mafunzo, Tusker's few chances came late in the match. One such opportunity involved substitute Obadiah Ndege, whose charge towards Azam's goal was suddenly halted a few yards from the Tanzanians' penalty area. Ndege's meek response when the resultant free kick rebounded towards him aptly summarised Tusker's miserable campaign.
Talk of leaving the party with a whimper when every one expected you were the guy to steal the show. With performances such as these, perhaps we should refrain from gloating and bragging about how our league has improved after professional management by the Kenya Premier League and cash injections by South Africa's Supersport and other sponsors.
20 July 2012
Logarusic and Jan Koops: new kids on the block?
When Dutchman Jan Koops took over as Coach at AFC Leopards in 2011, the club was
rooted to the bottom of the Kenya Premier League log. After only a few matches, even the most die hard skeptics were convinced that change had arrived at Ingwe. By the time the final whistle of the 2011 season was blown, Koops' boys were smugly perched in the top five section of the log.
In fact, such was the Dutchman's tremendous influence at the club that between July 2011 and April 2012, he masterminded an incredible 23-match winning streak.
Several weeks into the 2012 season, Gor realised they had to do a "Jan Koops"of their own. The club had ended the 2011 season unsatisfactorily and began the new one even more dismally, causing the sacking of Coaches Zedekiah "Zico" Otieno and Cameroonian Anaba Awono in the process.
By the time Croat Zdravko Logarusic smelt opportunity and caught the next available plane to Nairobi from Ghana, KÓgalo were flirting with relegation, just like Ingwe had only a few months earlier.
Well, the stories of these two Kenyan football power houses have since turned so rosy that their fans are again bragging about their chances of winning the Kenyan Premier League.
So what changed so drastically to alter the clubs' fortunes for good? Is it the the tactical prowess of the foreign coaches or their freedom from the tribalism, clanism and nepotism that so poisons Kenya's football?
From the attractive styles, enthusiasm and effectiveness being displayed by the clubs, one can confidently say that both cases apply. Clearly, the way players have either been offloaded or recruited at the clubs indicate that players' technical abilities are being considered above every thing else.
It is for this reason that a player like Collins Okoth who previously considered himself untouchable at Gor Mahia had no option but to quit the club. It is for the same reason that an almost entire squad was shown the door at AFC Leopards to create space for the desired kind of players.
It is also for the same reason that we have witnessed several high calibre transfers such as Eric Masika's move from Gor Mahia to AFC Leopards and Burundi international Floribert Ndayisaba's Ksh 1.3 million move from Rayon Sport of Rwanda to Leopards.
Listening to the Tacticians' statements in the local media, one cannot fail to notice their passion for realisation of a technically superior brand of football in the country. Croat Logarusic was recently quoted appealing for efforts to refine the abundantly talented Kenyan youth.
“There are thousands of talented young players in the country and they need to be nurtured since Kenya has great potential,” he said.
“The tempo is one thing that should be improved since the standards are way down (3-4 M/H) compared to what they do in Europe (7-8 M/H) but that can be improved.” said the bald headed Croat.
On his part, Jan Koops revealed a number of secrets that he would rely upon to transform Leopards when he took over at the then struggling East African giants.
‘There is no secret, I like to play ball possession, discipline in the team is important; one touch football, technical players. I like to talk to every player, if they have a problem...I like to be their friend but with a respectable distance so that they can respect me and I respect them,’ said Koops.
A year later, all these can be seen manifesting themselves as Ingwe confidently march towards a possible Kenya Premier League crown after such a long absence.
In fact, such was the Dutchman's tremendous influence at the club that between July 2011 and April 2012, he masterminded an incredible 23-match winning streak.
Several weeks into the 2012 season, Gor realised they had to do a "Jan Koops"of their own. The club had ended the 2011 season unsatisfactorily and began the new one even more dismally, causing the sacking of Coaches Zedekiah "Zico" Otieno and Cameroonian Anaba Awono in the process.
By the time Croat Zdravko Logarusic smelt opportunity and caught the next available plane to Nairobi from Ghana, KÓgalo were flirting with relegation, just like Ingwe had only a few months earlier.
Well, the stories of these two Kenyan football power houses have since turned so rosy that their fans are again bragging about their chances of winning the Kenyan Premier League.
So what changed so drastically to alter the clubs' fortunes for good? Is it the the tactical prowess of the foreign coaches or their freedom from the tribalism, clanism and nepotism that so poisons Kenya's football?
From the attractive styles, enthusiasm and effectiveness being displayed by the clubs, one can confidently say that both cases apply. Clearly, the way players have either been offloaded or recruited at the clubs indicate that players' technical abilities are being considered above every thing else.
It is for this reason that a player like Collins Okoth who previously considered himself untouchable at Gor Mahia had no option but to quit the club. It is for the same reason that an almost entire squad was shown the door at AFC Leopards to create space for the desired kind of players.
It is also for the same reason that we have witnessed several high calibre transfers such as Eric Masika's move from Gor Mahia to AFC Leopards and Burundi international Floribert Ndayisaba's Ksh 1.3 million move from Rayon Sport of Rwanda to Leopards.
Listening to the Tacticians' statements in the local media, one cannot fail to notice their passion for realisation of a technically superior brand of football in the country. Croat Logarusic was recently quoted appealing for efforts to refine the abundantly talented Kenyan youth.
“There are thousands of talented young players in the country and they need to be nurtured since Kenya has great potential,” he said.
“The tempo is one thing that should be improved since the standards are way down (3-4 M/H) compared to what they do in Europe (7-8 M/H) but that can be improved.” said the bald headed Croat.
On his part, Jan Koops revealed a number of secrets that he would rely upon to transform Leopards when he took over at the then struggling East African giants.
‘There is no secret, I like to play ball possession, discipline in the team is important; one touch football, technical players. I like to talk to every player, if they have a problem...I like to be their friend but with a respectable distance so that they can respect me and I respect them,’ said Koops.
A year later, all these can be seen manifesting themselves as Ingwe confidently march towards a possible Kenya Premier League crown after such a long absence.
It is with interventions such as these by clubs across the board that footballing standards in Kenya will rise to place the country in the position of the footballing pyramid that she so rightly deserves.
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