NAIROBI, Kenya, April 14 – Sacked KCB head coach, Abdallah Juma, is at pains to explain the club’s poor form that led to his dismissal on Sunday night.
The Kenyan Premier League (KPL) Coach of the Year earned plaudits by leading the Bankers to the top four last season but the team slumped to their sixth defeat in nine games on Saturday in a 2-1 reverse to visiting Bandari to remain rooted at the bottom.
“It’s a nightmare. Since I started coaching, I have never witnessed something like this, I was at Thika United for nine years and I never had a bad run like this season, same as when I was at Bidco United and Congo United that’s why I suspect something must have gone wrong in the technical bench,” the axed coach told Capital Sport on Monday.
“In fact today (Monday) I decided to stay indoors to try and convince myself that I’m no longer the coach of KCB.
“It’s very painful and I was actually stressed, I tried to look left, right and centre to find a solution why I was not winning but could not find an answer. May be I did not have luck because I tried my best but it was not working,” Abdallah who was appointed in December 2012 narrated after failing to notch a win this term.
However, the coach was proud to leave the club with his head high having led the Bankers to the Top 8 for the first time and boast of nurturing top players like midfielder Brian Osumba and forward Clifford Alwanga who are currently at Tusker.
“We had a meeting with the chairman yesterday (Sunday) and since I had not performed well I had no option but to accept and give someone else a chance and who knows, maybe they will start winning.
“I’m not the first coach to be sacked, and I don’t feel bad to exit the league early since I’m last year’s coach of the year. My regret is I will miss the Top 8 this weekend against Ulinzi Stars since it was my desire to lead the team in the competition.
“I’m sure coach Robert Matano will come knowing KCB are demoralised and that’s why I’m cautioning the players to be ready for anything,” the former Under 20 national coach added.
Juma becomes the fourth coach to shown the door the door this season after newcomers Top Fry Nakuru fired German Oliver Page, Western Stima parting ways with Francis Baraza and recently AFC Leopards sacking James Nandwa.
