Mbale Heroes return Mwebaze to calm the Storm
Mwebaze has returned to Mbale. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
The club had initially registered Frank Ssebagala, a Caf A licensed coach and Geoffrey Ojok. The former’s credentials were heavily tested against URA and drops to assistant role while Ojok, a Fufa lawyer, is never available for duties.
The October international break was a welcoming relief to Mbale Heroes after a rocky start to the StarTimes Uganda Premier League. After losing two of their opening three matches, the club was hit by the abrupt resignation of their stand-in coach Richard Malinga.
Malinga who masterminded their 1-0 win over Villa, left citing interference in his work, claims the club promptly denied.
“He didn’t have the necessary papers to sit on the bench officially,” a club official told Daily Monitor. “We were forced by the Fufa rules to appoint a certified coach,” he added.
The club had initially registered Frank Ssebagala, a Caf A licensed coach and Geoffrey Ojok. The former’s credentials were heavily tested against URA and drops to assistant role while Ojok, a Fufa lawyer, is never available for duties.
Drama
With this mini-crisis, the club hierarchy turned to their former coach Asaph Mwebaze after failing to get their targeted John ‘Ayala’ Luyinda due to pricing before his move to Vipers.
Mwebaze who was unveiled on Monday afternoon, is credited for setting a firm foundation for the team’s promotion despite quitting in April over nonpayment. The situation descended into a fiery social media spat between him and some club officials sucking in fans and leading to a messy fallout.
His return sparked drama as a section of the fans declared him persona non grata. However, the club backed the coach and banned three fans believed to issue the threats against Mwebaze. They are Kuffan Asuman, Issa Magalani, and Mike Wabuteya.
Mourinho-esque return
Mwebaze has likened his return to controversial Portuguese tactician Jose Mourinho’s return to Chelsea in 2013.
“Football is not war, even Mourinho returned to Chelsea so there’s nothing new,” Mwebaze said cheekily while embracing the comparisons with the former Chelsea manager.
“We had some issues, sat down, talked about the past and present and sorted,” he added.
Mwebaze might have settled his scores with the club but now faces a daunting task to find solutions to the team’s problems on the pitch, starting with a clash against struggling Lugazi in Mabira today.
In the other game of the day, Police will host Express at Kavumba. The Cops and Red Eagles have six and seven points respectively from the four matches so far.
STARTIMES UGANDA PREMIER LEAGUE
Wednesday fixtures – 4pm
Lugazi vs. Mbale Heroes, Lugazi
(Live on Fufa TV)
Police vs. Express, Kavumba
