Put’s Cranes

The combination play between the SC Villa pair of Ronald Ssekiganda and Kenneth Ssemakula, which resulted in the Jogoos’ only goal in a 1-0 win over Bul FC last Friday, March 15 at the Fufa technical centre in Njeru, embodied what one would consider a well-worked goal; structured and planned.

By and large, it is the on-and-off-the-ball movement that opened up the Bul defence, while leaving Villa’s midfielder David Owori unmarked in the penalty area, before he slotted home. To be sincere, it was not an easy phase of play to execute. In fact, it is not so common in the Uganda Premier League that teams would pull it off intermittently.

Yet, that kind of goal has become synonymous with Villa under Serbian coach Dusan Stojanovic this season. It is without doubt that Cranes’ Belgian coach Paul Put would love to see similar plays being pulled off by his charges, when they meet Comoros on March 22 and Ghana on March 26 in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Perhaps that is the reason why in the 26-man squad that coach Put took to Morocco, he has 10 new players. Although Ssemakula is not necessarily new, he is yet to be considered an established Cranes player. The fact that Ssemakula is still shuffled across the board from centre-back to full-back and then holding midfield, confirms that.

However, Ssekiganda does not appear to have such problems. The lanky midfielder appears to have actually caught the eye of Put, following his debut against Kuwait in January, where he opened Cranes scoring in a 2-1 victory. Following his two-year spell on the sidelines between 2021 and 2023, Ssekiganda has provided Villa with good ball management in the league.

Ssekiganda’s slow pace belies the silent assassin he is. But even more importantly, Put has admitted to liking tall players, which Ssekiganda, although at times leggy, has as an attribute.

The Cranes will miss those two under-20 internationals, who play for Villa and KCCA FC on the wing. Put’s game approach is best executed with wingers in there. And as Put continues to prepare his team for the two 2026 World Cup qualifiers in June against Botswana and Algeria, he intends to make sure that he has quality that can deliver the ball to his forwards.

That is why Travis Mutyaba is Put’s key cog. He uses the ball intelligently. This weekend, Put has an opportunity to continue assessing some of his older players such as Milton Karisa in the attacking role.

Put has also forward Steven Mukwala back in the fold. Mukwala has scored nine league goals this season for Asante Kotoko, who are seventh in the Ghana Premier League on 32 points, seven behind the leaders, Samartex, after 22 of 34 games.

Notably, a number of players that Put summoned in his first games in charge, against Guinea and Somalia last year, have not been returned.

The likes of Yunus Sentamu, Gavin Kizito, Nafian Alionzi, Salim Magoola and Umar Lutalo, among others. Yet, new ones such as goalkeeper Giosue Bellagambi, defenders Toby Sibbick, Denis Omony and Enock Walusimbi have been called up.

Add midfielders Nathan Asiimwe of Charlton Athletic and Moses Opondo of AC Horsens in the second tier of Danish football and Soltilo Bright Stars forward Shafic Kakande, and the message remains clear that he wants to try out new talent. But more importantly, Put is globetrotting to find Ugandans that can significantly supplement the home-based talent if Cranes are to be competitive in the near future.