By Robin Toskin
To most people the 1-0 defeat to Togo in the 2013 Africa Nations Cup qualifier was no surprise after they saw firsthand how Malawi dragged around Kenya by the nose on June 2.
However, there is still a constituency that has Harambee Stars in their hearts, who went through the agony relayed from Lome.
But what is the problem? There is no one answer. There is a school of thought that believes there is no problem with Harambee Stars. That the team we have been watching is “Friends of Kimanzi FC” representing Kenya!
Those kind enough, like me, think that it is actually Harambee Stars, but its general Francis Kimanzi has lost the script.
We stood by him when he was hounded out by Mohamed Hatimy’s regime during his first stint as Harambee Stars coach.
Personally, I hit out at Prime Minister Raila Odinga for presiding over unveiling of German Antoine Hey without finding out what had gone wrong with Kimanzi who had guided the team past Guinea, Zimbabwe and Namibia in 2008.
To be fair to Kimanzi, the whole problem is larger than him, but fans are right to hold him accountable to matters technical, team selection and general preparation of the team.
Like the naked Emperor in Hans Christian Andersen’s tale “The Emperor's New Clothes” Kimanzi has gone about his work believing he is dressed up tactically.
Yet his team selection, even to a pub coach, cannot yield tactical combinations befitting his Dutch Total Football schooling for which he holds a Uefa A coaching licence.
It can make an interesting read if Kimanzi explains his choice of Jamal Mohamed ahead of, say, Michael Oyando (KCB). His wisdom of selecting Kevin Kimani and Patrick Oboya.
Or converting James Situma, a right-footed midfielder by design into a left fullback when upstarts like Kevin Amwayi (Ulinzi Stars) are staking claim to such positions.
