Jogoos pay price as title defence collapses
SC Villa's Sula Matovu (in blue) keeps the ball from Maroons Rogers Kiwanuka. PHOTOS/JOHN BATANUDDE
What you need to know:
A defensive mess starting with a goalkeeping crisis - Meddie Kibirige’s howler gifted Maroons an easy goal, while Jean Brady Wokorach and Norman Angufidru - has left Byekwaso’s team vulnerable and rudderless.
SC Villa is learning the hard way that failing to prepare is preparing to fail. This is not the Villa that stormed to the title last season.
Everything that could possibly go wrong for the reigning StarTimes Uganda Premier League champions has done just that. Seven defeats in 19 matches, a paltry 24 points, a distant ninth-place standing, a meager 28 goals scored, and a leaky defence that has shipped 22 goals.
Under the lukewarm stewardship of Morley Byekwaso, the Jogoos have been a shadow of the fluid and dominant side crafted by Serbian tactician Dusan Stojanovic, who was inexplicably shown the exit after securing the club’s 17th league title.
Each of Villa’s seven league losses has exposed a glaring weakness, and Sunday’s 2-0 capitulation to Muhammad Ssenfuma’s Maroons at Wankulukuku was the latest evidence of their alarming decline.
SC Villa coach Morley Byekwaso.
A defensive mess starting with a goalkeeping crisis - Meddie Kibirige’s howler gifted Maroons an easy goal, while Jean Brady Wokorach and Norman Angufidru - has left Byekwaso’s team vulnerable and rudderless.
Knife edge
Byekwaso’s tenure has been marked by inconsistency, both in selection and strategy. The team’s attacking play lacks the crispness that defined their title-winning run, with Charles Lwanga and Patrick Kakande struggling to replicate their past heroics.
Despite Kakande netting six goals and providing two assists so far, he has not rediscovered the explosive form that propelled the Jogoos to glory last season.
Like eight-goal hero Lwanga, Kakande could only look on helplessly as Maroons ruthlessly exposed Villa’s frailties. The visitors' second goal, a clinical finish from Abel Eturude after a sublime pass by the ever-deft Jackson Nunda, was the clearest indictment of how Villa has long lost its fear factor.
Frustrated fans have directed their ire at Byekwaso, blaming his poor game management and his failure to instill a recognizable playing style - leaving Villa not just defensively vulnerable, but tactically rudderless.
SC Villa player Charles Lwanga covers his face after losing to Maroons.
At their current rate of free fall, it is highly doubtful that SC Villa can even overcome second-from-bottom Soltilo Bright Stars, who sit on just 12 points, when they clash at Kavumba Grounds on Friday.
Yet, despite their league collapse, faint title hopes still flicker, with the Jogoos remaining in contention for silverware in the Stanbic Uganda Cup round of 16.
