Winless OKUMBI: Four matches into Stars career Stanley stuck in deep end of pool

HARAMBEE STARS TRAINING Harambee Stars' Coach Stanley Okumbi during training for return leg in Guinea-Bissau at Utalii College on Saturday, March 19, 2016. PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD.

Thrown in at the deep end in a surprise appointment in February by Football Kenya Federation as Harambee Stars coach, the chickens have come home to roost for Stanley Okumbi.

Despite struggling to achieve results with Mathare United where he at one point threw in the towel before being prevailed upon to return, FKF President Nick Mwendwa shocked the country when he named him to the hot seat of an equally underachieving Harambee Stars.

And four high profile matches without tasting victory and another ignominious loss to Kenyan Premier League side, Posta Rangers in a friendly, Okumbi finds himself in the thick of things.

Kenya plays the Red Devils of Congo on Sunday in a dead-rubber Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, where anything less than victory could tip the former Kariobangi Sharks coach over the cliff.

Two friendly matches in Nairobi on Saturday and Sunday ended in uninspiring 1-1 draws, in which Okumbi admitted to feeling the pressure from the fans, saying he was frustrated by the inability of his strikers to the net.

“We have a scoring problem in Kenya. We are creating many chances but not scoring them. Against Sudan, we had at least five clear chances but could not convert any.

“Jesse Were had an open chance which he should have converted. There was no one distracting him and I want to say that if he gets another chance, he must do better,” he said.

Despite his impressive goal scoring prowess at his Zambian club Zesco, Were has failed to take the same form to the national team.

“The fans are also on my neck and we need to start winning our matches. Once we start doing well the fans will be happy,” he said.

On a positive note, Okumbi said he had identified three or four players whom he can promote to the main team.

“I was able to give an opportunity to eight players from the under-20 team and some of them were very impressive. It has helped us to identify three or four players whom we can use in future. Eric Ouma and Joseph Okumu were in top form,” he added.

Okumbi also said he was impressed by the performance of Spain-based Ismael Gonzalez who had his debut with the national team on Tuesday.

“He was very impressive. I was actually surprised by his performance. He did more than I expected... much more than what I saw in training,” added Okumbi.