It is officially silly season all around the footballing world as coaching hirings and firings take center stage. With roughly a quarter of the season gone, teams are taking stock of their current state and future trajectories, and abandoning the plans they made before the season kicked off. The managerial merry-go-round is now in full swing, and Uganda has not been spared.
Just days after a shockingly bad start to the season culminated in the departure of the popular but controversial Brian Ssenyondo, Kitara FC have announced the arrival of Wasswa Bbosa as the new head coach.
A statement posted on the club’s website on Monday read “We are delighted to announce Wasswa Bbosa as the new head coach.
He takes over for the remainder of the season,replacing Brian Ssenyondo who was relieved of his duties.”
Bbosa is highly accomplished, having won the Uganda Premier League and CECAFA Kagame Cup with Express FC in 2021.His last stop was at Mbarara City FC last season, and he has also coached SC Villa, Gaddafi FC and Kitara’s regional rivals Tooro United, back when they were known as Soana FC. He has also served as head coach of Uganda’s Under-23 national team the Kobs.
Ssenyondo’s exit is both inevitable and somewhat surprising, with there being some expectation that Kitara’s powerholders would give him time to turn performances and results around, after the young coach delivered the Uganda Cup, the club’s first ever major trophy last season, after the Royals edged NEC FC 1-0 in the final.
Kitara also mounted a creditable title charge,eventually running out of steam to finish a still impressive fourth.
But a disastrous start to the new campaign, which began with successive narrow 3-2 defeats to Libya’s Al Hilal Benghazi in the Preliminary Round of the CAF Confederation Cup, in what was Kitara’s first ever taste of continental football, and culminated in four losses, one draw and one win in the first six domestic matches, forced club CEO Deo Kasozi to cut ties with the greatest coach in the club’s short history thus far.
Interestingly, Kasozi came out to reveal that it was, in fact, Ssenyondo who approached the club and declared his inability to steady the ship, leaving the hierarchy no alternative but to part ways and move on.
Fans were divided over the decision, as while some called for a managerial change after an off season of considerable investment, which saw Uganda Cranes internationals Rogers Mugisha and Patrick Kaddu among a host of new arrivals, failed to translate into on pitch success, others called out the players for letting down the coach, accusing them of a lack of discipline and professionalism, perhaps as a consequence of the club’s achievements last season.
There were also reports of the development of rifts in the dressing room, as a number of new signings became unhappy with the lack of playing time, leading to questions about whether or not the coach wanted them in the first place.
This happened against a backdrop of tensions between the coach and his superiors, as the two got embroiled in an internal power struggle. On top of that, Ssenyondo’s abrasive man-management style is said to have alienated several players, ultimately making the coach’s position untenable.
Bbosa has a reputation for building organized units, and Kitara’s hierarchy and support will hope that his displinarian attributes will bring some much needed solidity and structure to their floundering team.
He will be joined by his backroom staff, comprised by assistant coaches George Lutalo and Hassan Mubiru, goalkeeping coach Richard Kansole, fitness trainer Ayub Balyejusa, team doctor Aloysious Makubuya and team statistician Alex Mugisha.
