NAIROBI, Kenya, November 22- The goose has reportedly finally been cooked for AFC Leopards Dutch head coach Jan Koops after the club terminated his and the entire technical bench services on Thursday.
Koops was axed in the immediate aftermath of failing to secure the Tusker Premier League title despite leading for long spells at the start of the season besides the defeat in the Football Kenya Federation semifinals last Saturday.
The stunning development comes after the club’s hierarchy moved to act after Leopards were pipped to the league by Tusker and beaten by arch rivals Gor Mahia in the Cup last four to end a promising season trophyless.
“We first want to inform those who have been sacked of our decision before we make the formal announcement. We do not want them to learn from the media,” Leopards secretary, Wilson Kituyi, told Capital Sport when reached for comment.
Efforts to contact his chairman, Alex Ole Magelo were fruitless by the time of going to press with the Ingwe executive said to been in a frantic meeting to chart the way forward.
The Dutch man who joined Ingwe midway last season was on a three-year contract with the side whose performance plunged towards the second leg of the season after stringing together an unbeaten run of 23 matches that saw them top the table.
He took over the then struggling side from Nick Yakhama and led them to a fifth finish last season before going 23 matches unbeaten as AFC charged to the top of the TPL, a streak that was broken by title holders Tusker in March in Mombasa.
Mickey Weche and Nicholas Muyoti (assistant coaches), Mohammed Fwaya (goalkeeper trainer) and Noah Wanyama (technical director) who is a father to Celtic star Victor and Inter Milan midfielder MacDonald Mariga were the others affected in the management cull.
Koops woes at the house of Ingwe started in September when reports surfaced that he had been suspended from his duties but the club’s hierarchy disputed them.
Leopards also had a bad outing at the TPL Footballer of the Year Awards on Wednesday night with Koops missing out on the Coach of the Year shortlist despite the overall satisfying performances they had in the league.
Striker Mike Baraza came third in the Footballer of the Year and was the only Ingwe player to be honoured.
