Paranoia will kill Vipers SC

At this rate, it doesn’t matter anymore what the name of the coach at Vipers is, he will be sacked.

Whoever told the six-time league winners that big clubs are defined by the frequency with which they hire and fire coaches must be executed. He didn’t just lie to them, he is making a mockery of the team.

 At the beginning of this year, Vipers announced the hiring of Charles Livingstone Mbabazi as the new coach. Exactly three months and one week after, he has been fired with Vipers just three points behind the table leaders with two games in hand.

It’s unimaginable that they are deliberately trying to a repeat of last season’s feat when they won the title after firing Brazilian coach Leornad Neiva on Christmas day last year and hiring Alex Isabirye five months before the end of the season. 

The coincidence is telling. On more than one occasion, this column has warned coaches before, that if they choose to join Vipers, they must be ready to be fired at will. Not that the owner is right, but that he has his style of management. As long as it suits his whims, he will do it. There’s always a possibility however that even visionary men can make grave mistakes that could be costly to their dreams. Football is no exception.

Some of us have run out of superlatives describing Dr Lawrence Mulindwa and how he has impacted football in this country. Whether it’s at the school level, club level, or national level, his contribution is invaluable and indelible. A look at the personal investment he has made towards football infrastructural development over the last two decades erases any doubt that his vision for football is permanent. 

A born winner many times over, the Vipers owner, however, appears to have a confused idea on how to make the 2022/23 champions great. Should he hire foreign or local coaches? Should he recruit local or foreign players? Should he promote a policy of steady progression from youth setups to the senior Vipers team? The answer to these questions and more lies with him only.

The frequent firing of coaches points to a problem much deeper than poor results or bad football. It’s the lack of a soul from which to draw from. What is Viper's identity? Do they have an institutional culture?  The current style of hiring coaches who don’t follow a set template is responsible for the knee-jerk reactions we see each year. It’s public knowledge that despite his tactical knowledge, Mbabazi has personal challenges with his lifestyle which often compromises his conduct at the workplace and judgment of situations. The undesirable result is a poor work ethic which manifests in absenteeism, late coming, or unacceptable behavior on the training ground. At Vipers, such behavior led to his suspension and since then, club fans have been split on the issue of suitability as coach of one of the biggest clubs in the country.

Whether Mbabazi’s sacking has been a result of fans pressure or embarrassment caused to the club which is cognizant of the need to protect its brand reputation, shall remain a matter of conjecture. The club must change its hiring policy for coaches. The constant changes bring instability, doubt, mistrust, and uncertainty on and off the pitch. The local coaches keen on building their careers will be shy about taking up job offers with Vipers. The professional coaches looking for opportunities will still find the job attractive but will be half committed, aware that they could be out of employment as soon as they are taken on. Players coming to Vipers will have only one thing on their mind; money. With such possibilities, it’s hard to understand the habit.