Stakeholders say Michel has what it takes to clean Stars

By Gilbert Wandera

Football stakeholders have welcomed the appointment of Frenchman Henri Michel as Harambee Stars coach and predicted a new beginning for dwindling national football standards.

James Nandwa, the current under-23 coach who is tipped to become of one of Michel’s assistants, said good things are in store for local football.

“Fans, players and all stakeholders have been disappointed for long due to the team’s poor performance but in Michel, they can be assured that Nandwa.

Nandwa said with the Frenchman in-charge, local players will be assured of fairness in selection.

“I expect that Michel will go out and carry out his own independent selection of players and give everyone who deserves a chance an opportunity to represent the national team,” added Nandwa.

He asked Football Kenya Federation and the Government to give the new man and his team support insisting that it is the only way to help them succeed.

“In the past, we have failed due to luck of support and it is important that the new coach has everything he needs to do the job at hand,” he said.

Nandwa was Francis Kimanzi’s assistant in the national team in 2008.

He has recently had success with the national under-23 side in three friendly internationals.

He was put temporarily in charge of Harambee Stars last month and asked to prepare the team for an aborted friendly against Jamaica in the United States of America.

Sofapaka and Harambee Stars midfielder Humphrey Mieno also welcomed the new coach and said his presence will give the team a new dimension.

“He has achieved a lot elsewhere and so has the necessary experience and we expect that he should bring something new and fresh to our game,” said Mieno.

Mieno, however, warned against rushing the new coach to deliver pointing out that results will not come over night even with a coach of such pedigree.

“We always demand instant results but this is not how things work. We cannot expect him to deliver in say three or four months.

He must be allowed time to learn our ways before we expect too much from him,” he added.

Former Kenya Football Federation Nairobi branch chairman Simon Mugo termed it a fresh start and asked football administrators to let the new coach to reconstitute a new team.

Kenyan Premier League vice-chairman J S Mwinyikai said they will fully support the new coach by releasing players on time and ensure he succeeds in his venture.

“We wish him the best of luck and promise to work closely with him to ensure that his efforts to uplift football standards succeed,” he said.