Show this man Hey the door


Published on 08/11/2009

By Omulo Okoth

I am a disturbed man. I am disturbed by the direction our beautiful game is headed.

I even fear for our national team. Fears premised on the possibility that Harambee Stars may not make it to the Nations Cup final world cup in Angola.

These calculations of possibilities just make me sick. That we need to draw or beat Nigeria, while at the same time pray that Mozambique beat or hold Tunisia are calculations based on wishful thinking.

All we needed to do was take our boys to Angola so that they could bask in international limelight again.

We hired a coach, Antoine Hey, who is drawing millions of shillings from our coffers and from whom we are not getting results. No quid pro quo.

This is disturbing me folks. But probably disturbing me most is Hey’s recalcitrance towards national team selection. He has reluctantly brought star striker Denis Oliech on board, but he has stood his ground on defence kingpin Edgar Ochieng’ and vowed not to touch him. Now, this is driving me crazy.

Why should we hire a coach, pay him millions of shillings, and all we get in return is arrogance and failure to deliver?

ARROGANT MAN

Whoever said people are geniuses in hindsight had Bob Munro in mind. He once referred to Hey as an arrogant man with no idea of what he is supposed to be doing, views which we gladly dismissed as vindictive after Mathare United players were dropped from the national team. But the absence of some of those players, like Ochieng’ have had adverse effect on the team. If the action on Ochieng’ was to discipline him, how long does it take to discipline a player?

Can’t Hey diagnose the technical needs of the team, read the public mood and see the urgency of winning this match on Sunday?

Wrong substitutions

What is Football Kenya Limited (FKL) doing with a man who only makes wrong substitutions, which end up in costly blunders as what happened last week in Cairo? How can Harambee Stars concede three goals in 10 minutes?

FKL Second Vice-Chairman, Erastus Okul, is an irascible man, but I concur with him on the Hey issue, even though they should have axed this man long time ago.

If Hey can’t accept Ochieng’ and Oliech, he should be shown the door pronto.

***

Take a walk to the Nairobi City Stadium and you will be confronted by an eye sore like never seen in the history of location of public sports facilities.

Recently refurbished to the tune of Sh75 million courtesy of Fifa, the stadium is now ranked on equal international standards like others abroad.

The forest green artificial turf is every player’s dream to grace. The terraces were also redone and the facility is fairly good.

But before you enter this wonderful facility, you must literally elbow your way through. Rickety structures, covered in dirty and torn linen, mats and polythene is all you see.

At night, these structures are hideouts for thugs who not only waylay passers-by whose only mistake is returning home late, but is also where they plan their dastard criminal activities.

Wonderful facility

One can’t see this wonderful facility well, from Jogoo Road or Lusaka Road. If it were elsewhere, it would have been surrounded by well-done cabro-works, marked parking bays and neatly done and painted vending kiosks for ticketing football fans.

Some translational company would have branded it and the owners or partners would be drawing neat sums of money.

I hope Benjamin Sogomo, recalled from retirement by Sports Minister Hellen Sambili to manage our stadia, will fly down South to see for himself what South African Government is doing with the 2010 Fifa World Cup venues and training grounds.

He will return home and demand the removal of those structures that ooze foul smell and put off fans from entering the City Stadium.

—The (iomulo@standardmedia.co.ke) writer is The Standard Sports Editor

 

 

Read all about: Harambee stars Antoine Hey Denis Oliech

 

 

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