Unless interim coach Tanzanian Kitambi performs modern era miracle, hatchet men will soon come for his head

Former AFC Leopards coaches. [Photo: Courtesy]

When thinking of the managerial circus at local football glamour club, AFC Leopards, the name Zradvko Mamic springs to mind.

Mamic, who is largely loathed by Croatian giants; GNK Dinamo Zagreb fans, is the Executive Manager of the team that is the most successful in the former Soviet bloc nation that caused a stir by finishing third at the 1998 Fifa World Cup in France.

Since taking up the role in 2003, Mamic has hired and fired a staggering 26 head coaches and an interim manager at the club that introduced to the world, the rich talent of international stars Luca Modric (Real Madrid) and Mario Mandzukic (Juventus) among other famous Croat players.

On Thursday, Leopards confirmed the departure of Robert ‘The Lion’ Matano, a two-time Kenyan Premier League (KPL) and domestic cup winner from the Ingwe hot seat with his assistant, Dennis Kitambi, taking charge on the interim.

Between Matano’s last spell at the club in 2011 and when he returned as Leopards boss in July last year to salvage the team from the threat of relegation, the most trigger-happy outfit in recent Kenyan football history had gone through eight changes at the helm.

Dutchman Jan ‘Wephukulu’ Hoops took charge in two ‘stints’ in 2012 and briefly at the start of 2016 (as coach of a splinter team that wanted to join the breakaway Football Kenya Federation Premier League.

South African outfit Free State Stars FC boss, Belgian Luc Eymael (2013), Dutchman Hendrik Pieter de Jongh (2014), Croat Zradvko Logarusic (2015), Belgian Ivan Minnaert (2016), Englishman Stewart Hall (2016-2017) and Romanian Dorian Marin (2017) succeeded Koops in that order.

As the European coaches musical chairs rotated with vim at the Den, James Nandwa (2013) as well as former star players; Ezekiel Akwana (head) and Nicholas Muyoti (assistant), took interim charge in 2016.

With Kitambi now at the helm, holding brief for the next man to be invited to take a sip from the poisoned chalice of leading the Leopards technical bench, it means the club has gone through 13 men in seven years.

At this rate, the club is on course to equal or even break Mamic’s unwanted record that is considered as the most brutal in the world of football.

Matano’s fate was decided at the club’s National Executive Committee on Tuesday after he was asked to stand down two weeks ago as Leopards prepared for a KPL match at Sony Sugar.

“We have honoured our part of the contract by paying him in lieu for two months notice having informed him of this decision.

“As the NEC, we saw this as the best decision in the interest of the club because Kitambi took over and he has won three back-to-back matches,” said Leopards Secretary General Oscar Igaida, adding that ‘The Lion’, who is reputed to be a strict disciplinarian, was fired ironically, over being ‘indisciplined’.

Matano, who was a revered midfield enforcer in his playing days at Leopards, came in at a time when the team was languishing 13th in the 2017 KPL and dicing with relegation.

He quickly turned around the fortunes of the team that has won 12 (or is it 13) league titles and perched them at the relative comfort of eighth (45 points) at the end of the campaign.

He also led them to equal bitter rivals Gor Mahia’s domestic cup record of 10 when they beat Kariobangi Sharks 2-0 in the final.

Between 2008 to date, Gor, who previously forged a reputation of being a coaches’ roller coaster, have gone through 11 in comparison with Leopards.

From 2012 to mid 2013 when Logarusic came on board, the record KPL winners have only had four permanent managers; Scotsman Bobby Williamson (mid 2013 to mid 2014), Frank Nutall (mid 2014 to 2016), Brazilian Jose Marcelo ‘Ze Maria’ Ferreira (2016-2017) and now Englishman Dylan Kerr, who toasted a 16th league trophy last season.

None of Kerr’s three predecessors were fired by K’Ogalo, with Logarusic going absent without leave after a pay dispute. Williamson left to take charge of Harambee Stars and Ze Maria resigned to take up a coaching job at Albanian side FK Tirana.

The usually guarded Matano, who ended a four-year trophy drought at the Den, broke ranks and offered his side of the story after his exit became fodder for the press days before he was sacked.

“In fact, they have emboldened me because they are communicating to me through the press. There are laws to be followed and Leopards is a big team that should conduct their affairs professionally, not through rumours,” Matano, who won the 2010 domestic cup with Sofapaka and Leopards last year, said.

“It has nothing to do with the team’s performance. We cannot say it’s about failing to win.

“Most of the players are new and I recruited them when we did not have money.

“Some of them were called rejects but I took them because I knew what they can do and they are performing,” Matano said.

“I have no problem with being sacked. It will not be the first time and if it is the decision of the management, I do not think they have a good reason. If they had one, I would have personally realised that I have done a mistake.

“You can be ejected from a position because they don’t like you, not because you are not performing,” Matano lamented.

He threw a dig at Kitambi saying; “The team has been winning because of the spirit we built in the team and the person in charge is now being considered a good choice,” the former midfielder said.

While his critics can take his views as rumblings of a man embittered by being fired, recent history has illustrated the managers’ chop and change at Leopards has only served to derail the club from reclaiming their lost glory.

When Eymael came in, Leopards quickly charged up to the summit of the KPL before imploding, only for Nandwa to come on board, win the domestic cup and lead them to a second-place finish behind winners Gor.

Another promising start under De Jongh went belly up and culminated in what was a roundly condemned seventh place finish in 2014 while their ‘in-laws’, K’Ogalo, defended the crown without much fuss.

Ingwe had the same results a year later with Gor celebrating a third consecutive success as KPL kings.

Tusker took the honours in 2016, with Gor finishing second, but Leopards plummeted to 13th in a campaign that saw Dan Mule voted as the club’s chairman.

It was a nightmare campaign by their lofty standards, as the team finished only four points above relegated Ushuru FC with 30 points in the culmination of a hostile take-over battle that pit Mule against former interim co-chair, Matthews Opwora and newcomer Maurice Amahwa.

Now, the Leopards tails are up again, with Kitambi leading them to victories over Sony, Mathare United and Wazito to leave them second on the log ahead of this weekend’s games.

But having not moulded his own side, Tanzanian Kitambi may find it hard to last the distance.