After his misguided rant, Magogo needs to focus on the horizon, not his emotions

Fufa president Moses Magogo, mid this week, called for an interaction with the media. The session which turned heated, saw Magogo blow his top.

This followed a series of tickling questions from scribes on the pay demands of the players who donned the national colours at the Chan tournament in Cameroon.

In his outburst, he cantankerously labelled the performance of the players sh*t. The visibly angry Fufa chief argued that the players did not deserve enough to take home a token of appreciation. His call rotated around the team’s below par performance where they did not register a win in a group that had Rwanda, Togo and Morocco.

But why would the Fufa supremo who is a political pedestal turn the anger on the playing staff when it clearly emerged the team’s shortcomings were majorly not their own making? Abdallah Mubiru managed the team’s Chan qualification and came out unscathed with a qualification path that had Somalia, Kenya, Burundi and Ethiopia.

Surprisingly, Fufa reduced Mubiru to Irishman Johnny McKinstry’s deputy at the bigger stage in Cameroon. Would McKinstry have achieved more at that stage with the little time and knowledge he had had with the team? How about Mubiru who doubles as Police head coach, who had had months with the team?

Magogo met the media at a time when the Cranes had equally had a dismal charge at this year’s Afcon finals. Shockingly, the team had collapsed at the hands of Africa’s underdogs Malawi and South Sudan.
The Chan disappointment saw Magogo and the federation call off the services of McKinstry and recall Mubiru to accomplish the mission with Burkina Faso and Malawi left to play.

Who had the better understanding of the senior Cranes team to secure the job? McKinstry had secured an away draw in Burkina Faso and beaten Malawi at home. He definitely looked like the better-placed coach to lead the team out of the group to the finals.

With Mubiru, his understudy, taking charge, Magogo had thrust the Cranes into an unfamiliar territory of playing a risky game and the outcome wasn’t a surprise. The team failed to negotiate the bend against Burkina Faso at home and Malawi away when they needed two points to advance from two games.

Magogo sounded hopeful of the future, largely basing on the younger players coming through the systems. However, the underlying squabble within the national team is the technical bench. He has tested McKinstry and Mubiru who have not lived up to the nation’s expectations – from Magogo’s own outlook at least.

With a budding crop of young players especially the ones that featured at the U-20 Afcon finals in Mauritania and an expectant nation, he will need an experienced coach to nurture them to compete favourably at the top level.

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