James Bakama
12 July 2009
column
Kampala — KCC wound up the season bare handed prompting questions of what could have gone wrong with a team that was expected to reap big. Similar to their two continental outings, last week KCC again crumbled just when it mattered most.
KCC's dream of winning its first CECAFA trophy in 31 years was blown with a quarter-final exit. Also dashed were the club's hopes of earning a share of the sh208m at stake in cash prizes.
So, what exactly went wrong? Was KCC simply not good enough or did the Lugogo team's leadership fail in its obligations?
With talents like Brian Umony, Robert Ssentongo, Anthony Bongole, Benjamin Ochan and budding youngsters like Tommy Okello, the issue of insufficient talent does not arise.
Talk of strikes over salary arrears, fights in camp and bizarre travel schedules that left players exhausted all on the other hand suggest that more should have been done by the club's leaders.
Team manager Hamid "Midi" Juma at one point attacked me for writing that KCC deserved a decent hotel.
KCC were staying in a dilapidated and mosquito-infested Lugogo hostel. The team was also having meals in shanty kiosks with a nearby noisy bar offering the only TV opportunity.
To Midi the quality of the team's residence didn't matter. He cited South Africa's SuperSport United who stayed in the five star Sheraton Kampala Hotel but went on to be ejected by KCC.
He also reminded me that the Cranes stayed at the same hostel before reaching the 1978 African Cup of Nations final.
What he didn't seem to realise was that three decades ago the hostel was as good as any modest hotel in then turbulent Uganda.
But perhaps what was most disapointing was the fact that KCC was not even aware of what was at stake in the continental race.
The club was only awakened to the lucrative group stage cash prizes by media reports late in the campaign.
With this lack of ambition, it is perhaps wrong to blame anyone.
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