Behave in Nairobi

It is just as well that Nairobi has been a tourist destination for ages, otherwise they would have had serious issues dealing with the number of visitors set to touch base this weekend.

That Ugandans will cross the border en masse is a bit of an understatement, but in the spirit of sport and for the sake of regional harmony the invasion should be a friendly one when the Harambee Stars and The Cranes face-off Saturday.
Granted, there is a long running football rivalry here and the stakes have perhaps never been higher, but Ugandan and Kenyan fans should let that be sorted out in the confines of the pitch.

Kenya cannot dismiss the potential for volatility and should prepare adequately, for even the most equipped cities to handle this sort of thing elsewhere in the world have been unpleasantly surprised in the past.

Ugandans have to play their part however, and the be the tranquil, fun-loving types they almost always are; sport is a pacifier and not a catalyst for hostility, and it is not the duty of football fans to ‘solve’ the Migingo stand-off for example; on the other hand, Kenya have got to guard against their police turning good old-fashioned banter into mayhem, it has happened all over the world so many times before. The East African Community has been revived, and for us October 9 is a reminder to make peace, not war.

Take them along

Bobby Williamson has inevitably had to drop several players from the Uganda Cranes squad for Kenya game, with the cut off point at 18. Being a product of a culture in which man-management is as critical as finances and tactics however, I am sure the Scot will agree that the boys who have been deemed surplus for this particular game should still travel to Nairobi, in light of the bigger scheme of things.

A good many of them are Bunamwaya players, so with his team set to play continental football Lawrence Mulindwa should be appeasing them thus. Seriously though, I can think of several others reasons why it is in Fufa’s interest to take these boys along.

For starters they are the ones who make the numbers for meaningful training sessions before and after the pros arrive and need to feel wanted to play their part. It is also from them that the back-up will be sought in cases of suspensions, injuries, failure to travel and financial constraints come into play in this long campaign, and it is important that they suck in the away-game experience in its entirety.

The forging of bonds and unity for causes aside, it is a continuation in the education process that has been the CHAN campaign, and should provide useful knowledge to draw on for the final in Sudan next year.

Give him time

With Northampton and Blackpool among their conquerors, Liverpool have hit an all time low.
Roy Hodgson’s head is in the proverbial guillotine, and many can’t wait to see it severed, if you will allow the somewhat grotesque metaphor.

It comes with the territory, and there is justification for those who point to the size of club and its expectations, Hodgson’s relatively smaller previous postings, and all the tactical and motivational failings of his tenure so far.

My dyed-in-red-wool mate Henry has rightfully pointed out that Hodgson’s team doesn’t defend or attack well and has no midfield control of any sort, and therefore has no strategic identity. Without even delving into the depth of the squad problems Hodgson inherited, or the magnitude of the crisis at a club desperately in need of new owners, I will point to time frames in the Englishman’s defence. If appointing Hodgson really was a mistake, sacking him will be even worse than getting rid of Benitez without a successor-in-waiting.

In Newcastle, ill-advised managerial changes have taken their toll, and across the road from Anfield there is proof that bad starts don’t necessarily mean bad endings.
Just last season Bayern could have sacked Louis van Gaal at this time of the season...

mark@fft-ea.com