Africa-Press – Kenya. AFC Leopards chairman, Dan Shikanda, has urged fans to be patient with head coach Patrick Aussems in light of the club’s worrying decline in performance.
Shikanda’s plea follows the club’s catastrophic back-to-back defeats in the Kenyan Premier League and a heart-wrenching elimination from the FKF Cup semifinals.
Their FKF Cup campaign ended with a 2-1 defeat to Kakamega Homeboyz before they lost by the same margin to Nairobi City Stars and Vihiga Bullets in their last two league encounters.
Ingwe — the country’s oldest top-flight team — are seventh on the log with 48 points and have only two more matches to conclude the season. The patience of their diehard fans is now wearing thin as their agonising title drought stretches into its 25th year.
There is already talk that Aussems may leave the club at the end of the season, something Shikanda has vehemently refuted. “There is nothing like that and the coach has not expressed any desire to leave Leopards. I don’t know why people like cooking up stories. It’s not just right,” he concluded.
The Leopards honcho, who once plied trade for the club during his heydays, reckons Aussems has achieved a lot in an extremely tough situation. “How would anybody expect us to win a title when we have not signed players for the last two seasons as a result of the Fifa transfer ban? Besides, we have been relying on players acquired from the youth team and I believe they’ve performed extremely well given the circumstances,” Shikanda said.
Shikanda lavished praise on the Belgian gaffer for delivering a crucial Mashemeji derby victory against arch-rivals Gor Mahia for the first time in seven years.
“Before he took over the reins, it was always obvious that we would lose to Gor in the derby. The question was how many goals we would concede,” Shikanda said.
“You’ll appreciate the fact that of late we’ve made it extremely difficult for them to leave with maximum points. They’ve not beaten us in the last five encounters,” he added. Aussems and his charges are understandably under the pump amid a string of underwhelming performances.
Even though the 13-time Kenyan champions have already given up on the title this season, their ardent supporters are keen on a decent finish, possibly in the top five if push comes to shove.
“We understand the anxiety that is building among our fans. It’s been a long since we claimed our last silverware. I’d like to assure them that we shall enjoy more success in the coming season. The Fifa ban is over and we intend to plunge resources into the next transfer window to beef up the squad,” Shikanda said.
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