Harambee Stars head coach Stanley Okumbi has hit out at a section of elite Kenyan Premier League coaches, accusing them of sabotaging his work.
But in a stinging rejoinder, the chair of the Elite coaches Robert Matano said Okumbi is one of them and he knows how to channel his views while asking him to self-appraise himself first.
The former Kariobangi Sharks and Mathare United coach has been under intense criticism since last Wednesday after his poorly fielded squad fell by a solitary goal to Guinea Bissau in the first leg of the 2017 AFCON qualifiers.
But with Kenyans expecting the team to bounce back in the reverse tie at the Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday, Sanches Semedo broke their hearts with an unexpected late contentious goal for the lowly ranked Guinea Bissau to complete a double over the hosts and leapfrog joint leaders Congo and Zambia to top Pool E (Seven points).
The goal angered the hosts' fans who in protest started throwing stones and other missiles onto the pitch forcing the referee to temporarily stop the game for over half an hour as police unleashed teargas on the frustrated fans.
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And following the ugly incidents of hooliganism, the soft spoken coach now claims that the elite coaches are trying to pull him down.
"I cannot blame the fans for the acts of hooliganism that were witnessed today (Sunday), but the elite coaches in the country. These were hired goons sent to disrupt the game. Unfortunately, I have found out that it is the so called elite coaches who are behind all this. Through my sources, I personally know that there are top coaches who are eyeing this job and have been against us young coaches," said Okumbi after the match.
"There have been no good will from them since I took over the job and they have been fighting me all along. Interestingly, apart from Jacob (Mulee) and Mohammed (Kheri) none of them have ever guided the national team to the AFCON finals. It is just that they want the job."
Matano, however, rubbished Okumbi's assertions saying it is also possible that he sabotaged himself by his selection and fielding.
"Elite coaches have and still support him. It is sad if there should be anybody undermining him. Okumbi is one of us and he should feel free to confide in the senior coaches for help in case some coaches are infiltrating his team," Matano said.
Although fourth placed Stars are basically out of the qualifying race, Okumbi is proud of his side's performance.
"If Okumbi looks at himself in the mirror, he would know there are certain mistakes he made. But that is how people learn. As elite coaches we are willing to help out, but he remains as coach contrary to what he thinks. However, he should also name those coaches so that we can take appropriate action including advising the FKF president on the way forward," Matano said.
Okumbi maintains there were positives in Harambee Stars' display.
"I think we played very well as per our game plan, but we were a bit unlucky. It was a tactical game and we knew Guinea would sit back, but we managed to create numerous chances both halves though we failed to score," said Okumbi.
"The problem is that Kenyans don't appreciate the work that is being done. Despite the loss, the fact is that it has been long since we last played such type of good football. They should wait and see what will happen."
Asked why he substituted two defenders James Situma and Brian Mandela for the attacking duo of Jesse Were and Eric Johanna, Okumbi said: "We substituted Situma because we wanted to increase our numbers in the attack. Mandela had to come out after sustaining an injury."
Rokumu@standardmedia.co.ke
