Carol Radull; Give Akhwana his dues

Early last year Sofapaka had a half decent run in the Confederations Cup but still failed to make it to the money stage. This was despite Sofapaka having such a strong squad and one of the most qualified coaching teams around. Francis Kimanzi may not have physically been in Sofapaka yet, but he was pulling the strings already; from buying players in December 2010 to selecting the squad that beat Ismaily 4 – 0 here at home; a result that Ezekiel Akhwana still takes credit for.

The paragraph above is from Carol Radul's blog on www.supersport.com We must save our league , she talks about raising the standard of Kenya Premier League. I agree with her in almost everything she wrote except- the paragraph above.

It is good she noted that our best players are far away from football as they can get simply because Kenyan football does not pay. How do you expect clubs to pay players well when KPL gives clubs a paltry 8% of the total sponsorship from Supersport? No wonder our best players would rather go for careers in other fields, but that is for another day.

Carol Radul with all due respect tries to allude to the fact that Sofapaka had a half decent run in CAF Confederation Cup last season. I don't know what she means with a half decent run when the club was bundled out for allowing Club Africaine of Tunisia to score an away goal at Nyayo Stadium. Yes they failed to make it to the money bracket, does that amount to half a decent run?

Sofapaka had a strong squad compared to local clubs but regionally the squad was not the best. She also mentions that the coaches were most qualified. Sam Ssibwa left early before the tournament began, the burden was left on the inexperienced shoulders of Ezekiel Akhwana.

Yes, Kimanzi had a say in the purchase of players like Simeon Mulama, John Njoroge and may be Humphrey Mieno from KCB at the end of 2010 season. These players were not the best in Sofapaka, Sam Ssibwa had brought in Musa Mudde from Uganda earlier, a great talent on deed. Herritier Luvualu had come in from Congo and I doubt if Kimanzi knew him.

To claim that Kimanzi selected the squad that beat Ismaily 4-0 is an abuse to the person of Ezekiel Akhwana. If you ever talked to the Sofapaka players, you got players who had just been freed from the vice grip of Ssibwa and so Akhwana offered a breath of relief. They rallied behind him to prove Ssibwa (another 'special one') wrong.

Akhwana is a maverick, I doubt if he could accept to take Kimanzi's instructions when Kimanzi was reading theoretical football in Netherlands. The way Akhwana managed the team against Ismaily; the substitutions he made and how the team responded was the work of a man who utilized what he got well. I believe if he could get half the exposure Kimanzi has got, you will be writing a different story about him.

Ezekiel Akhwana deserves the credit for leading the team to victory over Ismaily. Even when Kimanzi claimed sabotage and he got Akhwana out, what did he do with Sofapaka? Francis Kimanzi is a good coach, but please give Akhwana the devil's dues. Your comment above is an abuse to a man I believe still has a lot to offer the local game.

The problem with KPL is so complex, almost a spaghetti like situation. You have to pick out each at a time, but with a good team with a common agenda, it is possible to sort out the mess. We need to look into building the capacity of our coaches to handle teams in major competitions. They will in turn prepare our players to match the challenges of playing at higher levels.

My two cents....

Tusker's exit from Kagame Cup a Blessing in Disguise

The Ruaraka based Tusker FC can now breathe again after a dismal performance in this years edition of CECAFA Kagame Cup in Dar-es-salam Tanzania.

They were held to a barren draw by debutants Mafunzo of Zanzibar then got the same results against Azam FC two days later. Sammy ‘pamzo’ Omollo was upbeat of a good show when the team departed but he will have to look at his attack.

Looking at it further, the longer they stayed in Kagame Cup, the more they Tusker was likely to lose the KPL title. “Now that you are back home early for the league, Pamzo- break a leg.” History has proved that Kenyan clubs to the regional tournament (the reigning KPL champs) fail to clinch the title upon return.

Sofapaka won the league in 2009 and represented Kenya in 2010 Kagame Cup that was hosted by Rwanda. This is the tournament where TP Mazembe’s Tresor Mputu caused drama in their match against APR and got a ban from CAF. Sofapaka lost to eventual winners APR of Rwanda in the semi finals.

They returned and stuttered in their title campaign eventually finishing fourth behind champions Ulinzi and runners up Gor and Tusker. They finished 12 points behind the leaders and I can bet the two week tournament in Rwanda had a lot to do with it.

Ulinzi went out to Dar last year and failed to defend their KPL title as well. Though Ulinzi also spent another two weeks in Brazil for the World Military Games. Several of their players were injured in Dar where they reached the quarter finals coming back home with more problems than fortune. They finished second one point behing winners Tusker.

There is more to CECAFA Club Championship for Kenyan clubs than meets the eyes. While other leagues in the region have ended and teams are preparing for the next season later in the year, KPL is at a climax. The other teams are using the tournament as a build up and test ground for new signings.

They get into it having had a month of rest and preparation for it unlike Kenyan clubs who always go to the tournament straight from league fixtures. They also have to contend with getting back to a crowded league action to catch up with the rest on return.

Looking at it in this way, it is always a lose-lose situation for our clubs. They will fight hard like Sofapaka and Ulinzi but will end up losing to mentally prepared teams. Upon return, KPL waits them with the rigorous challenge of a league that has grown in the last few years.

For Tusker to have left the tournament after playing only two matches may just be good for their KPL title defense. It is sad though that Kenya keeps loosing in both club and senior challenge championships. We need to look at the clubs that go out to represent us as a nation. FKF must support these clubs if we are to improve our rankings in world football.

Then we have to stop and normalize our league to the FIFA calendar. This is not only good for clubs going for the regional championship but also for the national team and foreign based players. We are the odd country in the region so we have to change and not the other way round.

Meanwhile, we will watch how the championship unfolds in Dar-es-Salam from the comfort of our homes. I hope FKF has started serious preparations for the Senior Challenge that we will host in November. We need to reclaim our lost glory in regional football.

An Open Letter to Sam Nyamweya

I wrote this artcle for The People Daily immediately after  Sam Nyamweya was elected; I have not met him, so it still holds. By suspending S. Sholei and D. Shikanda, he has not surprised me, I had a low opinion of his election. I have noted he also took FIFA to court, what is wrong with the two taking FKF to court?

Congratulations are in order Mr. Sam Nyamweya. You have fought a good fight and your efforts have been rewarded, you now sit at the helm of Kenyan football. We have waited for long as you tussled with FIFA and FKL, now you have the full loaf. Your efforts to take the untouchable FIFA to court came to naught, we thought you were out but here you are. You truly have nine lives like a cat so just get into business.

I watched you walk into City Stadium just before kick-off of Gor Mahia versus Sony Sugar match. You must have been shocked when you tried to greet the fans and the handful who tried to wave back were shouted down. You are a fighter-  that might not have caught your eye, if it did you were not bothered. It was a bad welcome, especially for a warrior coming back home after a victory. It spoke a lot about our fears as football fans, so please as you take office do not confirm our worst fears.

The ten officials elected last Saturday have a huge task ahead of them if you have to win the hearts of football fans. Only three were not in your pre election camp so we don’t expect much internal noise to stop you from working. The KPL representative for second vice chairman may not have been in your camp but the Executive Secretary is from your side. You have a good team or rather an army or band for the job. You will know why I refer to the officials in those three words.

The lukewarm reception last weekend may be a blessing in disguise. You know who most of us were rooting for so I won’t go there. Most fans have a low opinion of you, your history may have something to do with it but the future of football has a lot to do with it. We have a low expectation of the next five years you will be in charge of the game we love so much. This may be good for you because one mantra of customer care is under promise and over deliver. If go slightly above our expectations, you will win over most of us.

I know you have received a lot of unsolicited advice so It will not hurt if I add mine to it. Football is more than a sport that is why you have been fighting to take charge of it all these years. It elicits passion across all social-economic divides. It is a language, players and coaches express themselves through it. It is an art; the genius that takes us to the stadium and keeps us glued to our TVs is out of this world. It is a war- we are always going at each other strategically on the pitch, changing room and board rooms. Lastly, it is a sport, a beautiful game to be enjoyed for entertainment purposes.

For the next five years, try to speak to us in the football language, though it was invented in Britain and perfected in Brazil, I believe you understand it so well. It is a beautiful language and beautiful languages are simple. Football is a universal language with many dialects.

 Learning a new language is challenging in terms of the kinds of sounds that combine to form words. To learn another language therefore involves thinking in the language you know and translating it in your mind before you pronounce a word.  You won’t have the trouble of learning it, you have spoken the football language at all levels. You are at home with the idioms, sayings and proverbs. Let us hear you speak it to us often and clearly Mr. Chairman.

The art of football is beautiful to the artists and the beholders the world over. Like sculptors the managers and coaches shape a players mindset and physical ability. The players are like painters and weavers; they create patterns on the pitch daily that leave spectators yearning for more. Artists do not operate from the streets; they work in hibernation then exhibit their works to the highest bidder. Provide our football artists with a good environment to come up with and exhibit their wonderful artwork.

It is war and every match is a battle. The strategic lengths people go through to win a match and a title can make good fodder for ‘the art of war’ re-loaded. Before you pitch your camp, make sure your army has blended well. Sun Tzu writes in ‘the art of war’ that one is fit to lead an army on the march only if he is familiar with the face of the country—its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps. None of the people you beat comes close to you in regard to knowledge of Kenyan football landscape; you have your job cut out for you.

We have been and will still converge in our stadia however dilapidated they are because football is an entertaining sport. Football fans will not expect you to be a comedian or to ask your committee to be a music band. What we would like to see is our monies, emotions and time spent worth. Entertaining football is played by happy footballers on good playing surfaces. Good football is simple football; simplification is not a product of simplistic minds but genius. For goodness sake surround yourself with great minds.

Lastly we don’t expect miracles from you anyway, you don’t always win every match in football so enjoy as well. Football has become a multibillion business but it is still a sport. Now you know why I said that your committee must be a team to play some good football, a band to entertain us and an army to fight the war that football has become. Amidst all these, it is still a beautiful game, the ball is at your feet. When you meet me let me know how it is going.