Misfiring KCCA FC needs a serious soul-searching 

KCCA FC on Monday parted company with head coach Sergio Traguil after a dreadful start to the season, which has left the club pointless.

This is the worst start in the club’s 49 years as a top-flight side. At the moment Jackson Magera is the interim coach until further notice. Magera returned to KCCA this season after more than two years with rival SC Villa. KCCA was so confident in the Portuguese tactician that they offered him a two-year contract on top of allowing him to move with his backroom staff, plus he was allowed to recruit six foreign players.

However, all the excitement dried up as the club lost all four league games against Bul, Maroons, Express and Kitara. To decide Traguil’s fate, I am reliably informed that six of the nine board members wanted him out, but the other three reportedly wanted him to stay.

WHAT THE CLUB OUGHT TO DO

The Portuguese might have been part of the problem at KCCA, but in my view, the real problem is somehow beyond Traguil. It is easy for the club chiefs to sack coaches like they did with Mike Mutebi and Morley Byekwaso or Jackson Mayanja, but still things failed to work out.

KCCA board needs to declare what their objectives are. They should either choose to continue being a top-class club by having a formidable board and disciplined squad or fall into the also-ran category.

In 1988, when KCCA failed to win any silverware and also got ejected early from the Africa Cup Winners Cup by Zaire’s Kalam FC, the fans executive invited club patron Bidandi Ssali for a meeting and put him to task to explain the club’s plight.

Bidandi obliged and shed light on some of the things that the team had identified to recapture its lost glory. After a careful restructuring by electing a new executive committee in 1989, which ended Jack Ibaale’s 14-year reign, KCCA went ahead to recruit top players like goalie Sadiq Wassa, Yusuf Gitta, Derrick Muyanja and David Kavule, among others.

The club rose to the occasion in 1990 by winning the Uganda Cup and the 1991 league title, ending the club’s six-year wait for silverware. In 1992, KCCA went into another dip in form. The side twice lost heavily to SC Villa in the league and was also eliminated from the Africa Club Championships, suffering a 1-6 aggregate loss to Zambia’s Nkana Red Devils.

Ex KCCA players yet again petitioned Bidandi and voiced their concern about the club’s poor performance. After consultations, the club executive was dissolved and replaced with a steering committee headed by Abraham Byandala. The new committee also had Dr Timothy Mutesasira and Fred Ogene.

The club went ahead to win the 1993 Uganda Cup title and narrowly missed out on the 1994 Uganda Cup title after losing to Express in the penalty shootout. The vibe was back. So, whatever is happening at KCCA at the moment should concern the executive, players and fans, and a solution ought to be found quickly.

KCCA has more time to put their house in order before the end of the season. The situation is not too late to mend and through objective re-examination, KCCA can return to where it belongs. What’s more, the club must analyse and clarify the problem critically, without bias or favour.

Even if it requires restructuring the club’s management, let it be done. It is wrong for the board, which is dominated by politicians and KCCA technical staff, to be fully involved in recruiting coaches and players. The board should create a technical committee or appoint a director of football who will be the go-between the board and the club’s technical team.

Anyway, these are the views of a disgruntled fan!

bzziwa@observer.ug