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KENYA
NIGERIA
The Harambee Stars coaching post is now vacant.
As you all figure, I was a part of the last technical bench, whose tenure, according to the dates today, lasted just about eight months long, ( November 2011- June 2012).
The dates for me matter alot, because it is the main theme of my message.
........Time and patience...
No shortcuts
The best performing countries in the world have always given their coaches time to stay and do their jobs. It is a long term job, not a short term one.
A good example near home is in Uganda and Tanzania, where the coaches are given years, not months to do a job. If a coach has a plan, he needs a while to implement.
In Kenya though, there is none of that, we rush and sack our coaches as soon as we see a bad result, without considering that they need time.
It has to change in future if we are to see improved displays from the side.
Different people
The difference between being at a club and national team coach is huge.
At a club, as I have been for many years at SoNy Sugar, it is more like a family and an institution, where things are done in a certain way and style.
There, you see each other on a day to day basis and build relationships with players and it is also the same among teammates. They know each other better.
At the national team though, you have a short time to do so, you need to build bridges.. It needs time. If it is young players, you use a certain number over a long period, so they know and understand each other.
Ordinarily, it is done at age group level, but in Kenya, we do not give those emphasis, so players learn about each other in the three or so weeks that they are in camp.
If a player is overseas, it means they only have three or four days to prepare with the rest.
Give right person time
My time with head coach Francis Kimanzi and the rest of the technical bench was good. We did our best and worked hard.
The results were not what we wished, we are all Kenyans and want to do well. Sadly, things did not go our way and we have to move on. It is a part of the job anyway.
However, I would like Kenyans to exercise patience when the next coach arrives.
I beleive the federation will do it's best to get a good coach, but they must give him time and space to do what he knows best. If they give him a job, let them trust him.
We need to see consistency to ensure growth and then results.
