Rudderless approach costs the Jogoos dear
Threatened. Douglas Bamweyana speaks to his players during the team’s 2-2 draw against Police at Lugogo. Villa will not win any trophy this season after exiting the Uganda Cup. PHOTO BY JOHN BATANUDDE
What you need to know:
- Nowhere is this more distinct than in the curious case of Jogoo Young. The entity went from being a conveyor belt that rolled off precocious talent like Emma Okwi to one that jostled for has-beens as it accustomed itself to life in the Big League.
We know remarkably little about what is going through the mind of SC Villa coach, Douglas Bamweyana. What we can be certain about though is that after suffering from much more than just a flesh wound this season, the Jogoos are under immense and growing pressure if not threat.
A shock defeat at the hands of third tier outfit Nkambi Coffee not only provided a man-bites-dog Uganda Cup round of 32 footnote midweek. It also ensured that Uganda’s most decorated club will yet again heap a trophy-less season on the back of another. In case you’re wondering, Villa’s last piece of silverware came at the backend of the 2014/15 season after they outwitted KCCA FC in a cup final.
The league trophy drought runs even deeper with 2004 the last time blue confetti hailed a record-extending 16th title. A lot has happened during that drawn-out period. Mostly bad. You must have recently noticed a trend across social networks of people posting now-and-then pictures split by 10 years. It’s been highly infectious to the point that the bug bit your columnist.
Villa’s official accounts weren’t, and with good reason. But when Paul Mukatabala, who claims to be a true blue dyed-in-the-wool Jogoo, dragged his beloved club into the conversation, seemingly harmless memes poured in their torrents. Mukatabala’s Facebook post was at once sarcastic and telling. His challenge, he noted, wouldn’t straddle the whole nine yards (read 10 years). Just one [year]. The pictures he shared of Villa’s starting XI for this season and its predecessor were profoundly different. They encapsulated just what Villa has become of recent — a revolving door not just for players but backroom staff alike.
How Villa went from behemoth to revolving door should come not as a vulgar surprise but as a troubling inevitability. In its heyday, the club always pivoted on that that is individualistic.
Unsurprisingly, things have tended to go south whenever the odd individual bows out. Which has often been the case in the past decade. Such a structureless pattern can be quite counterproductive in the sense that it doesn’t lend itself to the merits of having a long-term vision.
Nowhere is this more distinct than in the curious case of Jogoo Young. The entity went from being a conveyor belt that rolled off precocious talent like Emma Okwi to one that jostled for has-beens as it accustomed itself to life in the Big League.
Bent but not broken, Jogoo Young is still lumbering on. Hashtag #10YearChallenge would nevertheless juxtapose one graduate to the senior team (Charles Lwanga) with a bevy in 2009. A relegation dogfight was also the last thing on the club faithful’s mind back in 2009. Minnows not much different from Nkambi Coffee would step onto the pitch for matches with Villa well beaten before a ball was kicked. Not any more. How times change!
