It was time up for Mexican tactician, Espinoza at Vipers

Vipers SC on

Saturday evening announced they had sacked their Mexican boss Javier Martinez

Espinoza just after four months in charge. 

In a statement

released on the club's official Facebook and Twitter accounts, they thanked the

tactician for his time in charge and promised to make major announcements

regarding their technical staff.

Espinoza's axing

followed a disappointing goalless draw against Tooro united at the St. Mary's

stadium in Kitende in the StarTimes Uganda Premier league that left the

venoms second on the 16 team pile with 25 points in 11 games, five behind

leaders KCCA FC who have played two more games. 

Despite the venoms'

being unbeaten in the league this season, the undertones have consistently

expressed reservations about Vipers' brand of football given the crop of talent

they have. 

The reason for

Martinez's sacking is yet to be known but given Lawrence Mulindwa(Vipers

Patron)'s ambitions upon appointment of the man from North America, perhaps

there was little hope that Espinoza would get them there.

After investing

billions in the club, building a state of the art stadium and making some of

the most expensive signings in local football, Mulindwa made clear his intent

to make an impact on the continent, reason he sacked the former Portuguese

coach Miguel Da Costa despite bringing him a league title in his first

season. 

But perhaps the

gamble with the Mexican, who was a rookie in African football did not pay the

dividends he hoped for hence the boot. 

Martinez's biggest

un doing was the subdued manner in which vipers got knocked out of the CAF

Champions league by Algerian side CS Constantine losing home and away. 

His sacking may

also have been triggered by pressure from the 12th player. 

The growing number

of venoms supporters had started calling for the Mexican's head after falling

1-0 to CS Constantine in the first leg of the CAF Champions league. 

Truth is, none of

Vipers' seven wins in the top flight has been that convincing. 

And the domineering

manner in which their perennial rivals KCCA FC wins games doesn't not help

matters.

Mulindwa would love

his team to win (or lose) games the way KCCA FC does.

No wonder rumour

had it earlier in the season that the yellow boys' gaffer Mike Mutebi would

cross to Kitende. 

There is also a

rumour that the Mexican has failed to work with the club's technical director,

Eddy Butindo, and some of the coaches he found at the club. 

Case in point is

Edward Golola who has been an integral part of the St. Mary's Kitende's sports

set up since time memorial and has held several successful interim stints at

the top of the senior team. 

The space was too

hot that Golola opted to excuse himself and find breathing space at a second

division side. 

The multi -million

dollar question however remains, is coaching the problem at vipers?

I think it's just a

drop of in the ocean of problems at the kitende based side. 

Mulindwa's recruitment style 

Lawrence Mulindwa's

recruitment policy which has shades of Florentino Perez's style with La liga

giants Real Madrid is a thing of the past. (A little like Danny Welbeck's

French hair cut).

What Mulindwa does

is lure the most on form players in the league with his loads of cash, and get

a manager to make it work.

This used to work

then, when football was more of an individual brilliance sport but not today

when the game is highly a team affair and is won with the coach's tactics not

individual players.

On paper, Vipers

has arguably the best individually brilliant players in the league but the

games we have watched this season have proved that they are diabolical as a

unit to say the least, yet a team like KCCA FC may not have so many individually

proven players but is unplayable as a unit. 

Mulindwa broke the

bank to entice players like Tom Matsiko from KCCA FC (word is, he is the most

expensive local signing) and all the rest, but it is  no secret that Matsiko hasn't brought half the

returns expected of him.

It would be unfair

to put the entire blame on Martinez(but unfortunately that's the nature of the

coaching business). 

The wiser thing for

Mulindwa to do is appoint a coach who knows these local players and have him

make the recruitments he deems suitable for his style and philosophy or if you

fly in a foreign coach, give him time to teach the players his style.

The selective bonuses to players

I am made to

understand that Lawrence Mulindwa is in the habit of rewarding goal scorers

with crazy bonuses, depending on his mood and how excited he is after a game. This

can be good but equally bad. 

It promotes

selfishness and disunity. Instead of players fighting for the team, they will

resort to playing to appease the patron and get the biggest bonus.

This incidentally

promotes division within the team. Imagine defenders who do not get a lot of

goal scoring opportunities but fight their bodies off to limit goals coming

their way, how they would feel if all credit after a 1-0 win went to the man

who netted the single strike! 

No wonder I have

heard of countless rumors of how some players visit witchdoctors to get the

goal scoring charm. 

Vipers still a work

in progress

Mulindwa should

understand that Vipers is still a work in progress despite the commendable

strides they are making in local football. 

The TP Mazembe he

wants to be like did not become African champions overnight. 

But Mulindwa, whose

club is not even among the historicals or even proven consistent title

contenders feels entitled to appearing in the paid ranks of the continent just

because KCCA FC did.

He forgets that it

took KCCA FC almost a lifetime to become the first and until now last Ugandan

side to make the group stages of the CAF Champions league. 

The modern game

demands for a lot more than the sacks of cash from an individual and it calls

for systems, strategy and patience.

The reason

Manchester city is gradually growing is because Sheikh Mansur with his billions

of dollars, trusted a group of experts to run the club, same thing with Roman

Abramovich and Chelsea. 

To bring the debate

home, KCCA FC is a force to reckon with now on the continent because a one

Jennifer Musisi trusted a team of knowledgeable football people to run the

affairs of the club and a handful of years later, it is succeeding like it was

born to.

Mulindwa too needs

to borrow a thing or two from some of these clubs if he is to get where he envisions

his club, otherwise, he will hire and fire all races of managers from all

corners the earth.

He will  also hire from  other seven known planets of the solar system,

but never get even close to the sweet cherry of African football with his

management style, and who knows what could happen when he is tired of investing

without returns.