MATANO MAGIC: Uinzi coach turns around the club’s fortunes, now eyes top three spot

Ulinzi coach Robert Matano (left) and Geoffrey Kokoyo (right) escort captain Stephen Ocholla out of the pitch after he was shown a red card during their KPL match against Gor Mahia on September 17, 2014 at Nyayo Stadium. [PHOTO:DENNIS OKEYO/STANDARD]

There is a calibre of special coaches in the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) who continue to make an impact season after season.

One such coach is Ulinzi tactician Robert Matano  who has had a tremendous impact at the club since he took over in mid-season.

Matano is well known for his knack of taking over struggling sides and turning them into title contenders. He did it with Tusker in 2012 when he replaced Sammy Omollo in mid-season and helped the team win the KPL title.

Before that, he had success with defunct Kenya Pipeline and Nairobi City Stars when it was known as World Hope. His magic has also been witnessed at AFC Leopards.

What is amazing about his recent success at Ulinzi is the fact that he took over a team that was said to be lacking talented players.

Former coach Salim Ali said before leaving the team which was by then struggling to win matches that he did not have the quality of players who can challenge for the title.

But Ali’s statement has come to haunt him months later as Ulinzi Stars are now placed fourth on the log with 41 points, 10 points behind leaders Gor Mahia.

Ulinzi Stars chairman JS Mwinyikali is the first to acknowledge Matano’s contribution to their success. “He has done wonders in the few months he has been here. He is a great motivator and the players listen to him,” said Mwinyikali.

Known as a no-nonsense disciplinarian, Matano has not had to deal with disciplinary issues at Ulinzi Stars whose players are trained and serving soldiers.

“We don’t have any discipline issues at Ulinzi Stars and so this has made Matano’s work even easier,” added the club chairman.

Despite their good run, Matano remains ever ambitious and is not satisfied with the fourth position of his team at the moment.

Speaking to the KPL website, Matano said he will be satisfied with nothing less than a top-three finish in the league this season.

MAINTAIN CURRENT FORM

“A top three position, why not? There is a lot of talk about how certain teams have already run away with the title but there are five matches remaining and people forget that football is highly unpredictable.

“The team’s results are out there for everyone to see and if we can maintain the current form then, why, we can finish even higher than the number three spot,” Matano said.

Ulinzi, considered title contenders at the beginning of the season before dropping off the pace from a poor start, have indeed picked up form as illustrated by their 2-1 victory over title hopefuls Tusker in their last fixture on September 25.

In fact the result, coming after a 2-0 triumph over Nakuru All Stars four days earlier, marked Ulinzi’s only second back-to-back wins this season. The first came way back in May when they beat KCB 2-1 before edging out All Stars 1-0.
Matano said the team had taken time to conform to his coaching style but he now had a perfect understanding of his players and their abilities.