When it comes to bad coaches, Stars have never run short

/Courtesy

Stanley Okumbi, the Harambee Stars coach, went out hunting with his charges last week in Asia and returned home empty-handed.

Stars were beaten 2:1 by Iraq, somewhere in a city called Basra, and crowned the loss with another smack from – wait for it – Thailand. The match which was played in Bangkok saw Thailand bang Stars 1-0.

Where do these two nations, Thailand and Iraq, feature on the soccer map for them to beat Stars, which is ranked 88 in the world by Fifa? Well, Iraq is also ranked 88 but Thailand is nowhere in the top 200 footballing nations.

This points to one fact: that the Stars coach is wanting, and might not deliver the team to the promised land that is the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Stars face a wounded Ghana and a resilient Ethiopia for qualifiers early next year.

However if you think Okumbi, whose hurried appointment last year was contested, has performed badly in international matches, history places him in good company.

In his league are several former Stars coaches, who steered the team in the opposite direction, amassing defeat upon defeat.

PETER ORENGE

Orenge, once a Stars player, took charge of the national football team sometime in 1965, after the players fell out with Coach Ray Bachelor.

Bachelor had guided Stars to Cecafa games in 1964 where they displayed good football but after falling out with the team, Orenge took over. He abandoned the team four hours to an independence celebration match with Ghana where the Stars were clobbered 13-0, the worst in history.

CHRIS MAKOKHA

As a coach and teacher at the Kakamega High School, Chris ran a super career at the secondary school games as he identified talent that shone and later ended up at Harambee Stars. However, his stint as a national coach was disastrous as the team never sparkled despite playing the African Cup of Nations (1988) and Cecafa senior challenge cup (1987).

ABDUL MAJID

Like Okumbi, who was recruited at the behest of the current Football Kenya Federation chairman Nick Mwendwa, legend has it that the then FKF chairman Peter Kenneth lifted Majid from Rivatex and handed him the job. To say the least, he was a disappointment.

BOBBY WILLIAMSON

He is one of the most disastrous foreign coaches for the Stars, but word has it that he was sabotaged by poor management from the FKF team. Williamson lost matches to teams like Cape Verde and under him, the team could not stand up against Botswana.

While above list is not conclusive, there are those coaches who outdid themselves. Let's look at two. 

MARSHALL MULWA

Multiple sources describe him as the most successful coach Stars have ever had. Under him, Stars won three successive Cecafa cups from 1981-1983, beating the host nation in two of those tournaments.

ECKARD KRAUTZUN

The German started to coach the national team at 29 years in 1970 and under him, Kenya qualified for the African Cup of Nations for the first time.