NAIROBI, Kenya, March 4 – AFC Leopards have denied appointing Italian Emanuele Filippini, as head coach as reported by a local daily on Friday.
Speaking to Capital Sport, Leopards Secretary General George Aladwa said they have not made any changes to the technical bench and James Nandwa remains the head coach.
He also conceded they have received many applications from foreign tacticians including Filipini to succeed the Harambee Stars assistant coach who is under fire after a slow start to the season.
“AFC Leopards have not made any changes in the technical bench and on behalf of the club as the spokesman, I want to assure our fans and members that Nandwa is still our head coach assisted by Mickey Weche, Washington Muhanji as the goalkeeper trainer and Francis Xavier as the team manager,” Aladwa told.
He stressed, “We have not appointed, Italian Emanuele Filippini as our new coach and I dismiss the report appearing in today’s papers.”
The Secretary General who has called a press conference on Tuesday next week to clarify the matter, called upon fans to turn up in large numbers on Saturday as Ingwe takes on Bandari in the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) Top-Eight knockout opener at Nakuru’s Afraha Stadium.
Even as the speculation on his future continues unabated, Nandwa was up beat they will give their best against the Dockers, urging his side not to underrate them after they were boosted by 2-1 win against league champions Gor Mahia last weekend.
“To play in a knock-out match is very difficult so we will approach the game with our heads high, opening the game but at the same time being cautious. We have been creating chances and that why I field many midfielders, but our problem is on the finishing.
“Bandari is a good team since they have good forwards who will make the match difficult but all and all our intention is to win and make it to the semi-finals,” the Harambee Stars assistant tactician explained.
However, the coach urged fans to criticize the team positively since changing of the technical bench will not solve anything.
“We are working every day to ensure we post good results and no player or coach wants to perform poorly. There is no strategy to win the league our aim is to focus on every match to ensure we win.
“Our fans should support the team whether they win, draw or lose since this id their team and not Nandwa’s. Coaches will come and go but the team will remain forever,” he added.
The den has received a boost in their squad as forward Jacob Keli who missed Bandari’s match after being involved in a commercial shoot and left back Abadalla Juma, who was injured will be available for selection.
Dependable forward Allan Wanga, winger Noah Wafula, keeper Wycliffe Kasaya and skipper Martin Imbalambala are still nursing injuries.
As Nandwa boast of having a solid defence, Bandari on the other hand have lethal forwards with the likes of Kepha Aswani and Mohamed Mwachiponi expected to give Ingwe back four the run of their money.
On Sunday defending champions Tusker FC will square it out with Sofapaka at Nairobi’s Nyayo National Stadium.
