Troubled Kenyan Premier League giants AFC Leopards have finally slammed the door on beleaguered gaffer Tom Juma after a disastrous start to the season.
The legendary Kenyan footballer, who once plied trade for the club as well as bitter rivals Gor Mahia during his heydays, was given his marching orders on Wednesday after only three months in office.
His departure comes barely weeks after a ballooning chorus calling for his removal hit a crescendo.
Juma did not mince his words as he packed his belongings and cleared his desk. He blamed his woes on a faceless and ruthless cartel that has turned the player recruitment exercise at the den into a multimillion-generating enterprise.
“We’ve been messed up terribly by the sudden emergence of a cartel that is gradually tearing the club apart,” Juma said.
“I won’t go into much detail, but they are ruining this squad. For the first time in the club’s history, a committee has been put in place to recruit players,” he continued.
“As a coach, you need to have a voice in the kind of players a team signs due to your preferred style of play and how you would like to integrate particular players into your system,” Juma said.
“They should stop burying their heads in the sand and turning me into a scapegoat,” Juma stated.
He said with about 18 new players on his roaster, there is no way he could not have miraculously transformed the club overnight.
“We acquired roughly 20 new players from different teams who will need some time to blend with the rest squad.”
Leopard’s unforgivable defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Gor Mahia in the famed Mashemeji derby last Saturday at Moi Stadium, Kasarani threw the spanner into works.
The loss left the felines dangling precariously in the red zone of the KPL log where they now place second from the bottom with a paltry four points after the Round Six encounters.
The club’s torrid run includes a 1-0 loss to KCB. They shared spoils with FC Talanta in a drab barren affair before registering a similar outcome against league minnows Muhoroni Youth.
A two-all draw against Kenya Police and another one-all draw against Shabana merely served to expose Juma’s under-belly.
Sources say AFC Leopards’ honchos coiled tails and decided to crack the whip after bulking under intense pressure even as it became evident that enraged fans had begun directing their wrath at the office.
Juma was handed the hot seat after outspoken Belgian tactician Patrick Aussems left the club in a huff in July, citing unpaid dues totalling Sh11 million.
The local tactician, however, experienced a rough patch at the den where he presided over five goal-less draws and a heart-wrenching defeat to perennial nemesis K’Ogalo.
Reports indicate that former Leopards coach Tomas Trucha, a 51-year-old Czech Republic national, will be landing in the country to take over the reins at the club for the rest of the season.
The Uefa Pro license holder could most likely arrive on Tuesday night, and get unveiled the following day.
He boasts a wealth of experience, having previously proved his tutoring mettle in a host of countries including the Czech Republic, South Africa, Botswana, and Malaysia.
Juma has been conspicuously absent from the club’s training sessions for the past couple of days with the task of preparing the side squarely placed on the shoulders of assistant coach Fred Ambani.
Impeccable sources disclosed that Sofapaka goalkeeper trainer Haggai Azande has been approached to replace the long-serving Lawrence Webo, a close confidant of Juma.
Trucha will be joining the club from Malaysia’s top-tier side Kelantan United. If confirmed for the role, Trucha’s first assignment will be against another troubled side Bandari FC at Mbaraki Sports Club, Mombasa on October 22.
