Why Espinoza failed to make the cut at Vipers

That statistics don’t tell the whole picture is a tired phrase often used in sport. Yet in the context of Vipers and their former head coach Javier Martinez Espinoza, the cliché is one that could not have been more appropriate. The Mexican was sacked on Saturday evening following a goalless draw with Tooro.

The decision came as a surprise to many with the club one of only two unbeaten sides left in the league.
Saturday’s results left them five points behind leaders KCCA who have accumulated 30 points from 13 games played, two more than Vipers.

The club are also on a 28-game unbeaten league run that includes Espinoza’s 11 games in charge.

At the weekend they were also drawn against Tunisian side CS Sfaxien in the Caf Confederation Cup in a competition that also includes KCCA. Yet despite all those glowing statistics that saw Espinoza lose only thrice in 15 games overall and had a win percentage of 60 per cent, insiders at the club felt the team was in idle mode. Having been offered a two-year contract in August, Espinoza’s main task was to guide the team to the much craved Caf Champions League group stages.

But after scraping past Sudanese side Al Merreikh on away goals rule after a 2-2 aggregate draw, Vipers and Espinoza in particular were exposed by a tactically superior CS Constantine side to bow out of the Champions League, 3-0 on aggregate. The result and performance brought more scrutiny on Espinoza and his work methods.

Daily Monitor understands that Espinoza, who had no knowledge of African football and came in on the strong recommendation of Mubarak Wamboya, was insecure with many of his players and staff at Kitende. Wamboya previously worked as one of the main scouts at St. Mary’s Kitende, a school with strong ties to Vipers before he was fast-tracked to the assistant coaching role.
Matters were not helped by a lack of clarity in his playing style that led to a distrust among several players that despite the efforts of the highly respected technical head Eddie Butindo failed to yield positive results.

His captain Taddeo Lwanga, one of very few players to emerge with credit from his tenure was seen questioning his approach as Al Merreikh threatened to break down their single goal lead in their Caf Champions League return leg fixture. Espinoza had gone for forward Davis Kasirye and substituting Moses Waiswa, exposing the already booked central midfielders Lwanga and Brian Nkuub to the Sudanese opposition. His lack of assertiveness and conviction also left many a journalist puzzled in press conferences.

After completely being outplayed by CS Constantine at home, Espinoza told the media that the Algerian side would spread the gospel of how difficult it was to play Ugandan teams.