Crested Cranes hunt new coach after Lutalo sacking

The national women's football Crested Cranes will soon need a new coach after George Lutalo was relieved of his duties on Tuesday.

The Fufa Executive Committee declared in a statement released on their website that "the positions of the technical team of Crested Cranes have fallen vacant following the completion of their assignment for which they were appointed that ended with the Wafcon finals in Morocco."

Lutalo had a topsy-turvy year as Crested Cranes boss after he replaced Faridah Bulega, who served from 2018 to 2021.

The former Police FC defender started on a tough footing in South Africa when Uganda failed to make it out of the group stages of the Cosafa Women Cup last September. His predecessor was a bronze medalist in the competition in 2018.

With hard work and fortune, Lutalo went a notch further by managing to send Uganda to the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) , at the expense of Ethiopia and Kenya, who pulled out of the qualifiers due to administrative wrangles - for the first time since 2000.

He then went on an upward curve winning Uganda's maiden Cecafa Women Championship with an expansive style of football that endeared his team to the entire country.

At the time, Lutalo spoke of "building a team for the future" and it seemed then that he had a free reign on the team - maybe even an a limitless stay as head coach.

Lutalo shied away from setting a target while heading to Morocco saying they will go to "play well."

Indeed Uganda's display was convincing in some matches but the lack of direction was equally evident.

Working with foreign-based players he knew little about, Lutalo quickly jettisoned the influence of players like Fazila Ikwaput and Hasifah Nassuna in the Wafcon finals.

A happy camp was quickly engulfed by tension and Uganda was consequently eliminated at the group stages of the competition.

Last kick

Some sources within camp say that in the end, Lutalo wanted to please all players and he tried to give all a run in the final game against Burkina Faso but was limited by the number of substitutions. Others claim he trusted his lieutenants a lot , especially goalkeeping coach James Magala - in terms of squad selection.

Fufa say they "will declare as and when the application process for the vacant positions starts" and after three appointments for the national team starting with Majidah Nantanda in 2016, an open process to select the best candidate for the job could be what the national team requires.

Name: George William Lutalo

Age: 42

Former club: Police FC

Women Football

Coached Crested Cranes

Won Cecafa Women Champs 2022

Qualified for Wafcon 2022