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Why Kobs’ Bbosa can’t have his cake and eat it
Conflicting philosophies. Coach Wasswa Bossa struggles to make the most out of a talented squad. Photos by Eddie Chicco
What you need to know:
- Bbosa might proverbially live to die another day, but the link with Marie Antoinette and company who were executed in France’s revolutionary fervour remains inextricable.
- The embarrassment of riches at the clueless Kobs coach’s disposal for one invite comparisons with the spectacular opulence that the Bourbons abused. While Antoinette chose to have expensive jewellery sewn on her ornate dresses, Bbosa just as well failed to judiciously use gems like Allan Okello, Shafik Kagimu and Julius Poloto both in Kampala and Juba.
Without stretching the analogy too far, certainly not into the realms of dress etiquette, this column reckons there is something unmistakably late-era Bourbons about Wasswa Bbosa. Uganda’s under-23 head coach has over the past fortnight had the air of the obdurate pre-revolutionary French royals that reached the end of their tether having learnt nothing and forgotten nothing.
Bbosa’s version of the dreaded trip to the guillotine came this past week in the shape of a humiliating 2-1 aggregate loss at the hands of minnows South Sudan. He didn’t quite fall to the guillotine, and sadly won’t from the looks of things. Fufa believes the embarrassingly abrupt end to plans of figuring at the 2019 Africa Under-23 Cup of Nations finals won’t have a damaging impact. Uganda had a bad day at the office, apparently.
Bbosa might proverbially live to die another day, but the link with Marie Antoinette and company who were executed in France’s revolutionary fervour remains inextricable. The embarrassment of riches at the clueless Kobs coach’s disposal for one invite comparisons with the spectacular opulence that the Bourbons abused. While Antoinette chose to have expensive jewellery sewn on her ornate dresses, Bbosa just as well failed to judiciously use gems like Allan Okello, Shafik Kagimu and Julius Poloto both in Kampala and Juba.
By deploying Musitafa Mujuzi at right back in the first leg, Bbosa showed that he had learnt nothing and forgotten nothing. The groundswell of opposition that developed after the experiment of having Mujuzi at right back had resulted in Kobs losing a warm up encounter against the Cranes should have ideally brought Bbosa back to his senses. He, however, went on to have his ‘qu’ils mangent de la brioche’ (let them eat cake) moment. Kobs never recovered from the insipid first leg in Kampala that was settled by a last-gasp Mustafa Kizza penalty.
Besides the 2-0 loss in the reverse fixture representing a nadir, it provides an abstract repository for a range of anxieties, fears and resentments. The scattergun approach that Fufa uses to cherrypick coaches of age grade national outfits is as deeply disturbing as the pre-revolutionary opulence of the French royals. It is vexing that an age grade team can be entrusted to the care of a coach with the competencies (if indeed they merit this description) Bbosa commands.
There are a number of coaches with excellent track records at handling young, impressionable players that Fufa would have turned to. The football governing body, however, chose to stick with someone whose ethos are sure to put players in a straitjacket.
Little wonder Kobs players failed to express themselves and tried to reinvent the wheel by repeatedly bombarding the lanky South Sudanese defenders with aerial balls. They were being led by a coach who has no clue that cake is more expensive than bread!
