The title for this blog changed a couple of times before I came up with the final one “Hey! Come Back Here!!” The thing is, it reminds me of my days as a child when I’d do something and just when I know that hell is about to break loose, I start walking away whistling filled with a lot of guilt…

That’s when the four dreaded words came, “WILSON!!! COME BACK HERE!!!!” Your world suddenly becomes very small and you know from then on that your backside will be sore for a couple of days. Of course now when I look back and think about it, it looks and is indeed quite funny.

But what if I did that on my job? You know, I start doing my show and provoke people to hatred and just when my listeners get fed up and reprimanding me, I fade the music up and go home? most probably, I’d come back on Monday and have a very long talk with the MD whose fruits, well, the lesser said the better.

Anyway, what am trying to say is that you cannot sleep on your job (I had stronger words to use there but then again, I enjoy having a pay check at the end of the month) and then just walk away and pretend that everything is okay. Worse still, you walk away complaining and throwing tantrums that you’re the offended one!

I am also trying to say that a lot of people should be ashamed of themselves, starting with Mr. Antoine Hey for throwing our world cup campaign to the dogs. HOW DARE THEY?? What Hey did was disgraceful malicious and utterly disrespectful. But then again, he’s not the only one to blame. The Prime Minister, Right Honourable Raila Odinga is also responsible.

I really admire his (Raila) passion for soccer and the vision to see it grow, but this move, calling it a flop would be a massive understatement. Am not only angry at Mr. Odinga for removing competent, homegrown, affordable(read cheap) talent, but also for burying his head in the sand when evidently everything was falling apart. I also lay the blame on him for disregarding this Hey fellow’s previous record, which , really, is far from impressive-they’re not even the same area code as impressive-and giving him a task that he has, in the past, failed miserably!

I won’t even start talking about FKL because, clearly, they won’t have put their house in order by the time JC comes back. However, I will talk about Hey.

First of all,I think he’s very arrogant and his interests were not even close to getting our beloved Harambee Stars to the World Cup or the Africa Cup of Nations; or how do you explain someone who decides to fly to Germany to wish his ol’ man a happy birthday while his team has just lost a crucial international fixture? That is downright arrogance. The fact that he was receiving a sum of money that would comfortably feed an average Kenyan family for a year, every month, makes it even more painful!

If I didn’t know better, I’d say the Government should come in and arrest this guy and charge him for fraud because, that is what it clearly is. He came in, took the money, did a shoddy job and then when things got bad, ran off! I still don’t understand. If he doesn’t know it, he should realize that he owes everyone an explanation; the government-he was being paid by the ministry of sports, FKL-they manage Harambee Stars, I think and most importantly, The Fans-we paid tax to pay him!!

The only positive thing about the whole second round campaign was how the Stars played against Nigeria. That was, one word for it, BRILLIANT!! For once, I was proud in defeat. The lads played their hearts out, everything they had was in the game putting the events of the previous week behind them to show that even without a coach, or even with one who cared less, they still had the passion to win.

But speaking of disgrace, has anyone heard what’s happening in Europe? The two major things are; one, that FIFA has announced that that World Cup qualifier playoff game between Ireland and France will not be replayed, even after the theatrics of on Thierry Henry and the second thing is that a bunch of people have been arrested in connection to match fixing. The saddest thing about this is that 3 of the 200 matches under investigation are Champions League games!

Now, let’s start with Henry. I have never been an Arsenal fan. Never in my life and I don’t plan to be. But, even when Titi (Henry) was Gunner, I still admired him. To me, he represented class, maturity, honour and most of all, talent. When it comes to honourable, mature soccer players, I put him in the same category as Zidane and Beckham. That’s why the stunt he pulled during the game with Ireland really disappoints me!  If you didn’t see the game, let me put all of us on the same page.

Now that I have a chance to say it without being bothered by natural events, I can say it comfortably and without batting an eyelid that football/soccer is the most beautiful game you can ever watch. The drama, the passion of the fans, how events turn on their heads, {sigh} it’s breath taking! Of course some people will never understand why 11 men chasing after inflated leather and kicking it around will attract millions of people around the world to watch – actually it’s billions; Based on the number and size of stadiums around the world, the number of people who wear football merchandise, number of people who are aware of football, and the number of leagues/tournaments worldwide football ranks at the top of the list regardless the definition of “most popular”. Approximately3.5 billion people watch football { http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_most_popular_sport_in_the_world } and 1.1 billion people watch the FIFA World Cup final match. Surely, there is no way all these people can be wrong. But that’s not the reason why I watch soccer. Am not really a wave guy, you know, the kind that move with the crowd, yeah, not really me. I watch football for various reasons. One of them is the joy it gives me to watch my favourite teams winning. I tell you, I almost cried with joy when France beat Brazil in 2006 in the World Cup quarter final….aahhh, that was a good day! I’m not a Brazilian fan, don’t give me that look, especially not after the way they played in that tournament.

France Players celebrate after beating Brazil in the 2006 World Cup quarters

Secondly, the pain and anguish that follows a loss. I was at the Nyayo National Stadium when the Carthage Eagles (Tunisia) beat the Harambee Stars in the 2010 World Cup-cum-Africa Cup qualifiers. You could hear the loud silence that followed Tunisia’s second goal, just minutes after we had equalised! Then when the Match ended, everyone just walked out of the stadium, no rage, no madness, just heads hung in grief…

The third reason is the joy that comes with watching some of your least favourite teams or teams that you really feel are a threat to what you feel is your birth right, go through what I just described above. Which brings me to what I want to talk about today – “bad days in the office” For those who do not follow the English Premier League, there is a team named Liverpool Football Club. This team is the second most successful club in England after, of course, Manchester United, when the domestic trophies cabinet is visited. It is also the team that was beaten by Sunderland last Saturday and then by Olympic Lyonnais on Tuesday…{that’s the definition of  a “bad day in the office.”

However, it is also the team that shocked AC Milan in the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, when the likes of then high-flying Schevchenko thought they had them in the bag then won on penalties. It is also the team that shocked West Ham United in 2006 by pulling another draw to beat them in penalties.

Right now, though, Liverpool fans must be feeling a little more than disappointed that their team has won just two of their last five matches on the road i.e. away in the premier league. That is not a good record for a team of it’s calibre. Add that, to the fact that they have lost their last four consecutive matches in both league and cup, that kinda complicates things for them.

The fact that the last time they won the English Premier League was back in the 1989 – 90 season and narrowly lost out last season must be very painful doesn’t make matters any easier either. The thing with soccer is, there has to be a few people who stand out from the bunch of 11. In the scousers case, the names Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres on the starting line up may mean a whole lot more than some of us may want to accept. The beauty of this is that having players like these in your team can mean a world of difference because you never really know what anyone of them will do next.

The duo’s dynamism is extraordinary. Gerrard’s precise passing, his strength and his technical excellence feeds Torres’ tremendous talent and provides him with goal scoring opportunities which some other strikers can only afford to dream about.  Take Torres’ goal against Blackburn at Anfield last campaign. He found space, was fed the right ball and smashed home a glorious goal in the top left hand corner when he was facing in the opposite direction. Astonishing!!

Of course it helps that Liverpool have players to supplement their quality like Jamie Carragher and Yosi Benayoun, but the skill and prowess of the England midfielder and the Spanish International have taken Liverpool to a new level.

The downside to this is if the two {Gerrard and Torres} are off form or are unavailable due to various circumstances, it becomes very tricky for the team and the manager as well. Think about what happened last weekend and the mid week Champions league fixtures.

Liverpool Disaster

Wednesday night must have been a very long one for both Benitez and his men as their plans {and world} crumbled at home in the hands of Lyon. Torres was out of the game with a groin strain while Gerrard limped off after 25 minutes with a recurrence of a similar problem.

The hosts ended the night with a strike force of N’Gog and Voronin supported by the ever so ineffective promptings of Lucas and Fabio Aurelio. The sale of midfield key cog Xabi Alonso to the Galacticos is just starting to be felt as there is basically no one to replace Gerrard! The team has basically a serious lack of depth with Alonso’s replacement Alberto Aquilani yet to play while Voronin, well, he spends most of his time on the doctor’s table.

Am not  a pessimist or a prophet of doom, but, if Benitez doesn’t do anything to take care of his midfield, Liverpool will spend another 20 years before they come close to even smelling the Premiership

There are those who expect me to start dissecting the Kenya Tunisia game after all those things that I said about the effect of preparations. Am trying my level best to steer clear of that issue, but, as it stands am not getting 100% success in my endevours. So, I’ll make a simple a summary of the whole of the situation, derived from a comment made on the last article “Hey, we need results…” by one Macharia ‘sentinel’ Muhoho.

“IT is said, failure to plan is planning to fail and you will reap what you planted.
soccerins! we saw what our good prime minister did, he brought the guy’-HEY. after we lost hope with our gud perfoming Kimanzi…. back to bussiness to be sincere HATUENDI HATA ANGOLA! i believe with the team i have seen defeating Nigeria is a white elephant task. so lets come back and rearange our house.”

Am not sure I can make any additions to that comment.

The only part where I disagree with the ‘Sentinel’ is where he says “HATA ANGOLA HATUENDI {we can’t even make it to the Africa Nations Cup-in Angola}. You see, even the slimmest of hopes have to be exploited here! Even a dying man clutches to a straw. I also disagree with all those who are claiming that the only way we’ll get to Angola is if we beat Nigeria at home on November 14th. That is not necessarily true, but it is the easiest way out of this mess. If the stars beat Nigeria, so help us God, we will be hoping that Mozambique gt less than maximum points from their game with Tunisia.

Harambee Stars' World Cup Campaign is in shambles

The other chance is if we draw with the Super Eagles, then hope, fast and pray that Mozambique lose to Tunisia by a margin equal to or almost equal (+ or – 2) to what Argentina  lost with to Bolivia (6-0). In this case we would have a better goal difference than them. If you don’t have your sack cloth yet, I suggest you get looking!

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s look at some more interesting things that happened over the weekend, well, apart from Argentina getting closer to going to SA.  Something or someone closer home.

Wanjiru is Kenya's latest Hero

Samuel Wanjiru! He’s the new phenomenon in long distance racing, for those of us who do not follow athletics. He is the guy who waves at the fans when he’s just about to cross the finishing line; the one who you always think you’re going to beat because he looks tired then he gives you a shocker; the one who’ll be celebrating his 23rd birthday in a month. Yeah, that’s him.

It is true that each one of us is born with a talent. But, unfortunately, albeit, the truth, if you don’t work to develop your talent, it is as good as dead.  I was quite surprised to discover this guy has been running for quite a while; since he was 15, to be precise. So let’s not really be surprised if he becomes another Paul Tergat.

I must say that I am 100% proud of this guy. Breaking the Olympic record and then lifting our spirits when all seemed lost…..{sigh}. But this just goes to show that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. If Wanjiru continues with his sirit and hard work, I can bet all my possessions, however  little they maybe, that this guy will not only reach the heights reached by the great Paul Tergat, but will surpass that.

Why do I say that? The 22 year old already holds the world half marathon record and the Men’s 20km race, both achieved in a span of a month and a couple of days.

When someone like him makes Kshs. 70 million in two hours, who would blame him?

I am constantly getting very jittery whenever Harambee Stars and the FIFA World cup are mentioned in the same sentence. It almost seems like these two subjects have no similarity whatsoever, like something is off….”Harambee Stars..bla bla bla bla…world Cup…{sigh}. I don’t know, but thats just me.

Don’t get me wrong, though. Am not saying these lads should not go to the big stage, no no no!! Contrary to that,  I think and believe it would be a great opportunity to develop, gain experience and showcase what we’ve got to the rest of the world.

But the thing is, if we even get to the Africa Cup of Nations, leave alone the world cup, with the kinds of preparations we are having, you know, the kind where the coach flies directly home to wish his dad a happy birthday after we lose to a team we deem weaker than ourselves, instead of sticking around to try and boost morales, I think it will be a a major embarrassment!

In the maiden article of this blog, I gave my reasons as to why I think Antoine Hey is not the right person for his current job.  I touched on his record as a manager working with African teams, which is not so impressive, to be quite fair. I also said that I have nothing against him as a person; if anything, I admire this guy somehow. I mean, he flew all the way to Germany just to be with his old man on his birthday. That’s very admirable. But we as taxpayers are not paying him what Assistant Sports Minister Kabando Wa Kabando says is “Kshs. 5 million every three months” to abandon our hurting boys in times of need because his dad was celebrating his birthday!!

Harambee Stars Coach, Antoine Hey

You see, any explanation given by a coach about an outcome of a game is normally what is taken as the plain truth and is used as a gauge for all his work. So when you don’t get any explanation for anything, it becomes quite tricky, especially for the coach and the team because people will come up with all sorts of conclusions.

Apparently, Hey doesn’t even have an official contract with the government. He was offered to us on a goodwill basis signed by the Prime Minister, Raila Odinga; that of course, is if what Kabando says is anything to go by. When you think about this whole thing, it really doesn’t add up, but that’s a story for another day.

Let’s revisit the small issue of preparation.  Prep Prep Prep!! That’s what my boss always says whenever we’re talking about radio shows. you see, if you have not prepared well enough before going on air, then you will either have too much to say, or you’ll fade up the microphone and start “…errrr….today we….errr…we’ll be talking about…eeerrr…” That’s the effect.

Translate this to sports. It works in, pretty much, the very same way. You don’t prepare well, you make blunders. It’s that simple! The difference between Kenya and other African teams is that while others have been working their socks off to get fit through friendlies, our Harambee stars have been sitting pretty at home waiting for the big meeting with destiny, or is it fate?

We cannot always blame management for all the misfortunes befalling our team. I don’t dispute though that we have a big problem when it comes to organisation. In fact that is the biggest problem. But again, is the man in charge doing enough. That whole incident of Hey wishing his dad a happy birthday really incensed me! I mean, shouldn’t he have been busy hassling the fellas at FKL to avail money for proper friendlies?

If only there was proper preparations and organisation before matches, then maybe, just maybe, we would be doing a lot better than we are right now, not to mention that we would be sitting in a position on the FIFA rankings that may not be termed as embarrassing.

After  all that has happened over the course of this qualifying period, we can only hope and pray that we do not get embarrassed in Tunisia.

A miracle at a time like this would be very welcome.

This weekend while talking to one of my producer friends in town, I heard a song that is calling on Kenyans to support local football, footballers, sports et al. I dismissed it at first until the guy seated at the controls decided to play it for a couple of more times. The chorus goes something like “tupende mechi zetu/tupende ligi zetu/supporti timu yako/supporti nchi yako…”

The thing is, it’s not that I don’t like the song, actually it’s a pretty good one, or the artiste either, I was just in a hurry because the game between Manchester United and Manchester City  was about to start and this guy was taking his sweet time. At about the same time local giants Tusker were about to take on Western Stima at the then FIFA-ban-threatened Kasarani (we’ll get there later).

I have an excuse to watch the game – am a sports journalist, I have to be up to date and that keeps me on a paycheck; but that’s the thing, everyone else who was watching it has an excuse, you know, ranging from, “this was the greatest Manchester derby in recent history” to “I don’t need to give an explanation why am watching football”

As for the local lads, the fact that they were on satellite telly was not enough to earn them the attention of the home fans. I can say this without batting an eyelid; am sure any entertainment joint that was showing the Manchester derby and owns more than one screen was showing the Tusker Stima game, why, not so many of us are interested.

But (Dr. Phil says that’s a very strong word) here is a shocker for you, the local game may actually be much more interesting than you may want to believe. Let me back up my case..

The Kenya Premier League, currently, has over five teams with a realistic chance of winning it, mathematically or otherwise, with only eight games to go. I’ve been watching the English game for over 10 years and I don’t remember it getting so close at eight games.  You know the winner will come from a cartel of 4 big clubs.

The weekend of July 18 – 19 saw 8 games played and a total of 25 goals scored!! 25 goals!! That’s an average of 3 goals per game. With these kinds of performances it’s hard not to get into the stadium and watch the games; if you’re not, you might as well be a loner- over 6, 000 fans trooped to the Nyayo National Stadium to watch Gor Mahia take on Sofapaka.

And Speaking of Sofapaka, where else do you find a team that just got promoted gunning for the top prize?

Match between Tusker and Sofapaka

The Kenyan Premier League has matured immensely in the last two years, mainly because the management is professional, there is exposure from the deal with Supersport and consequently the fans are getting back to to the stands. But what if it was the other way round? The fans get behind the players by getting back to the stands; advertisers see the numbers and get over excited and management seeing this have no option but to get their act in order.

If we ever want to see the national teams getting anywhere, we have to back them from the ground up. You see, the reason why countries like England, Germany, France are always in the World Cups is not really because their players are all that {with all due respect} but it’s because the little talents they have has been exploited to the maximum and the fans are behind them all the way.

If advertisers think even for a second that a certain game has a potential to sell, then money starts rolling in.  When Supersport entered into a Ksh 900 million deal with the Kenyan Premier League, I don’t think they were doing it for charity; they must have seen the potential in it. It is now our turn to show them that it is actually worth investing in Kenyan sports, not just football.

The English Premier League generated revenues amounting to ₤1.93 billion (Ksh 270 billion) in the 2007/2008 season. Of course we don’t expect to get there next year, but with time, it can be done. If we can grow our sports with an open mind, then, the guys at KRA may even be forced to cut the amount of money they charge us for buying a loaf of bread a.k.a VAT, because there is money everywhere.

I must admit that I am also guilty of neglecting the local game with the notion that it’s boring or there is not real talent, that’s till I watched Gor Mahia play Leopards at Kasarani! If we always argue that these games are boring – which they can be sometimes, just like any other games- that means our players will not get any exposure. When there are 30 000 people plus in a stadium watching you run around, you’re bound to do it more carefully and professionally than if there were just 300 people.

Having said that, good manners are always desirable, be it in sports or anywhere else. When people throw all sorts of things in the pitch because the national soccer team has won, that is as immature as it is dangerous. The other day we almost lost the only stadium that makes complete sense to the guys at FIFA because of that silly mistake.

And speaking of manners, what would you call killing a ref because your team has lost?  Those are incidents that should never be seen in any playing field

When all is said and done, the growth of the local game and sportsman lies in the hands of you and I, not management!

Don’t forget, to tune in to Radio 316 every Saturday Between 3 and 6 PM for your informative Sports show, It’s ON!! Hosted by yours truly!

However, am not talking about controversies that end games. No. Am talking about small incidents in it that make you want remember what happened, and maybe get a good laugh out of it…well, depending on which side you’re seated or standing. The rule of controversy {rules of the game according to Wilson} states: a controversial moment shall not lead to an ugly end of a beautiful game especially one that is deemed to be of Very High magnitude  {e.g. World Cup Final} and shall not be seen to pose danger to human health and life in general. But if it is just a case of people complaining, well, that is acceptable.

Lets take a direction that is acceptable to all; ladies first.

American tennis starlet Serena Williams was facing the Belgian queen of comebacks, Kim Clijsters {Pronounced Klaistas} in the US open on Saturday night and what a match it turned out to be, especially at the very end, for all reasons unpleasant.

The Belgian had been a set and 6-5 up when the line judge foot-faulted Williams on a second serve to give Clijsters match point. Let’s first understand what a foot fault is.

In tennis rules, rule number 8 states:

The Server shall throughout the delivery of the Service:….Not touch, with either foot, any area other than that behind the base-line within the imaginary extensions of the centre-mark and side-lines.

Foot Fault

That is Rule 8b

The key to understanding this rule is to realize that the Server’s feet must be at rest immediately before beginning to serve. A serve begins with any arm or racket motion, and ends when the racket contacts the ball (or misses the ball in attempt to strike it).

If either foot touches the Court, including the baseline or the imaginary extension of a line specified in Rule 8b, after his feet are at rest but before he strikes the ball, he has committed a foot fault.

There can be no foot fault if the Server does not attempt to strike at the ball. As long as the Server makes no attempt to strike at the ball, it is immaterial whether he catches it in his hand or his racket or lets it drop to the ground.

Trouble started when Serena lost her first set and consequently, her cool. The end result was quite interesting; she smashed her racquet on the court and it almost bounced onto her face. Fortunately it didn’t; she caught it midway there. But she wasn’t happy with its shape so she disfigured it.

Serena Williams with her smashed racket

She of course got a warning  for that.

That was not all. When the line judge, Louise Engzell, called foot fault on her, the already irate Williams didn’t take it too kindly. Video replays of her serve show that she was at fault but the tension of the game and the pressure must have gotten to her as she screamed unprintable things to Engzell who in turn ran like a scared little boy to report the matter to the match ref! But if you put yourself in the poor lady-judge’s position, you have to understand why she ran- just imagine Serena Williams, 5 ft 9 in, her physique, holding a tennis racquet and waving it in your face, ANGRY…

It’s sad how the match ended, but then again, rules are rules and the have to be followed, right? The thing is, if at all the better half of the Williams sisters did not cause that hullabaloo and just conceded defeat, it would just have been another game. But thanks to her, even Clijsters’ win on Sunday, making history in the process by being the first mother to win the tournament won’t be remembered, at least not as much.

And now to the game many say is played and watched by hooligans but is still the most watched: Soccer…wait, does that mean that most of us are hooligans? Or every one of us has a hooligan that we like hiding?

That’s beside the point. The stage was set for a great match pitting two sides playing very interesting football in England. But that was not the reason why the game was a must watch. The fact that some players of the host team were in the opposite side of the field just a few weeks ago made for a very interesting encounter. Manchester City was playing host to Arsenal at The- City- Of- Manchester Stadium.

Going into this game, Man City had not conceded a goal in three games and Arsenal were playing the most beautiful football in the league but conceded in all their games. The only blip in the Arsenal side’s record was just one loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford, so that doesn’t really count {Arsenal losing to Man united doesn’t make headlines nowadays}.  These two teams were evenly matched!

The fact that Arsenal got run over by the new rich boys of the Barclays Premier League – how cool is that, “Run Over”- is in itself not really a surprise nor does it matter. What happened after the 3rd goal, however, got the whole focus of the game.

Running after scoring is cliché. Running wildly, maybe in circles, doing all sorts of stunts {Nani, Obafemi Martins} and Rocking a baby {Tevez} or that funny cockroach thing Brazilians at Real Madrid did some seasons back is nowadays the in thing. However, there’s a behaviour that is unacceptable, but interesting nonetheless: Antagonising the opposing fans. That is as unsportsmanlike as it is badly behaved.

In February 2006, Gary Neville, the Manchester United captain and  also a life fan was fined 5,000 pounds (KSh 700, 000) for the same bad manners of celebrating in front of Liverpool fans and kissing his shirt badge.

Adebayor loves emulating his seniors. He wears a No. 25 Jersey because his role model Nwankwo Kanu was in the same shirt while at Arsenal. It’s really not a bad thing, but he should have known better for the behaviour he exhibited on Saturday, running the length of the field to sit in front of his former fans – turned villains.

It is quite interesting though because it’s rubbing salt on a fresh wound. The problem is, the owner of the wound may respond with a big blow and with the Arsenal fans, it wasn’t any different throwing all sorts of things at the striker.

Adebayor now faces quite a punishment after the F.A concluded that he was wrong in his acts. The punishment may extend to six matches!! If it’s for just that, I think that is quite unfair. Truth be told, not many people will remember that game on the basis of how Arsenal was outplayed, outclassed, outwitted and just plainly beaten.

You know why? One, because the last time the two teams met in the same stadium, the gunners lost by an even bigger margin and two, because there are far much more interesting things to remember; like Arsenal fans screaming what may have been obscenities or death threats at the giant Togolese and throwing all manner of objects at him or debating whether he intentionally kicked Van Persie on the head- now, that is really quite debatable.

Coming after that incident where Van Persie accused Adebayor of lacking class while he’s still a Gunner, it’s very questionable. Now, that is one controversial moment that should be avoided. That Van Pesie boy was left with a bloody face, which is against the Rule of Controversy. If he gets six matches for that, absolutely fair!

So, before you go on to condemn controversial sportsmen like Adebayor, Eric Cantona, Jose Mourinho, Mohammad Ali et al, try remembering what spice they bring/brought to the game.

Oh, by the way, remember Ronaldo, the one who added weight? The one who holds a world cup record? The Brazilian? Do you know what he’s been up to? Apparently, he can still score!!

Obviously, he can’t move as fast as he used to after the surgeries he has had on his knees, the age, and of course the weight. You gotta admit, though, he still shows signs of brilliance that made him famous…just a thought

Harambee stars have lost three of their last 4 matches in the SA cum Angola 2010 qualifiers. The same team that saw off Guinea and Zimbabwe in the previous round has scored just three goals in those matches, and was humiliated 3-0 by an underperforming Nigeria.  So we’ve said that the coaches have been blamed and it’s time to look at the players. Fine. But just before we go there, lets look at our current coach.

Mr. Antoine Hey, before he was appointed Harambee Stars main man on the technical bench, had handled three African teams: Lesotho, Gambia and Liberia. In my research I found out that he has a history of poor results as a manager. While in charge of Liberia, his last stop before he became jobless and we offered him a lifeline, the Lone Stars collected just two points from four games in their quest to go to South Africa next year. We have collected 3 from the same number of matches.

In one of those games, Liberia were whipped 6 – 1 by Senegal. 6- 1!! I don’t think the Liberian team is better than the Kenyan one but I also don’t believe it’s that bad! George Weah, the only African to have won the coveted FIFA World Footballer of the Year award, in an interview with the BBC called for either, his sacking or resignation for his poor performance.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/7794570.stm

When it was announced that he would be taking over the Kenyan team, a comment on www.liberiansoccer.darkbb.com under the same headline read:

“Thank God This Nightmare is over…I do not know where you will find failures getting employment then in African Soccer… This man can not even get a job in Germany but he is exported to mama Africa.”

Before he was fired, he expressed his desire to manage a team in the Middle East or Europe. EUROPE??!!!

I would be pretty surprised if he was appointed a European coach. Reason: the Europeans are a serious lot when it comes to football, so, with his poor record, it would be a huge gamble for any country to hire him. In the Middle East, well, the lesser said the better.

In Gambia, before he quit in a huff, there was a disagreement about money and his salary. Apparently, he was working under some form of “agreement” without a formal contract! So, he left…actually, abandoned the team. Wasn’t there a money issue in Kenya as well, before the Prime Minister “rescued” the situation?

I have nothing personal against Hey as a person, but his skills as a manager are, maybe, not what are needed to take Harambee Stars to the next level, namely the Africa Cup of Nations and or the World Cup.

I have heard the reasoning that Kenya is playing much more beautiful football than ever before.  That, however it maybe true, trust me, is not enough. Just ask Arsenal. GOALS WIN GAMES!!!

It is also true that local players have gotten their fair share of international caps, but at the end of the day, or should I say 90 minutes, results are all we care about. If we do not win games that are, on paper perceived “winnable,” it just means something somewhere is not working and needs fixing!

Dennis Oliech: He is apparently suffering from lack of confidence

In the run up to the second round of knock outs, Dennis Oliech was the highest scorer with 5 goals. Apparently, Oliech is now suffering from Confidence Deficiency Syndrome. What Hey should maybe realize is that when a player suffers from this terrible ailment, it is he who should step up and talk some confidence into him.

There is also a problem in our defence. I must admit, I am a big Musa Otieno fan. “Oterro,” in his hey days was one of the best center halves you could get on this side of the Sahara. His leadership skills on the pitch are unquestionable. But watching the games he has played since coming out of retirement against Mozambique on Sunday, I felt terrible for a couple of reasons.

One, I saw my star unable to handle some simple defensive duties that, a few years ago, were a cup of tea for him. Two, the comments about him from several of the guys I was watching the games with.

You can’t blame Musa; he was called out of retirement. It would be very unfair for anyone to expect him, at 35, to react, concentrate and move with the same agility of , say, a 25 year old. Calling him out of retirement may have been a good move from a leadership/mentorship view, but, footballing wise, I beg to differ.

Tactically, the Kenyan team has not been consistent, really. I don’t even know what formation we play nowadays.

We have players switching positions every passing game. At first, McDonald Mariga used to be the playmaker, nowadays he is playing on the right wing, where he really doesn’t perform.  Musa Otieno is sometimes used as a holding midfielder, whereas we all know he is a center half. Robert Mambo is an attacking midfielder; he is sometimes used as a defensive midfielder…huh?

After the game against Mozambique, someone on www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/africa/matches commented, “Antoine Hey is a real letdown!!! Very wanting tactics!!! Where on earth does a team play a 5-2-2-1 formation!!!”

We’re now sinking into oblivion, thanks to that. The Kenya Football Federation, or Federation of Kenyan football….or whoever is running the affairs of the national team or in charge of hiring of the coach {now that we have no idea who does what} should maybe rethink the decision of having Hey on board.

The question maybe, who is the best man for the job?

If I were making the decisions, I’d say, have Kimanzi as coach and Musa Otieno as his assistant.

One more thing, out of context, how many games has Argentina won since Maradona took over…just wondering