AfricaPress-Tanzania: FORMER Young Africans and Kenyan striker, Boniface Ambani said he already knew that striker Gislein Yikpe will not shine at the club due to his questionable form at Gor Mahia.
Ambani, who retired football in 2010, was one of the key players at the Jangwani Street based club and he succeeded to score 18 goals to his name.
However, speaking yesterday from Kenya, he narrated that basing on his (Yikpe) age and the performance he had at Gor Mahia, he knew that it would be tough for him to make it at the club.
“He is not a bad player, but after I learnt about his age and the position he was to play at Yanga, I knew that he was going to have a rough ride since I understand the team better,” he said.
He continued that he tipped Yanga leadership that if they wanted to sign him, they had to give him some trials for them to see his potential.
“I think the move was facilitated by some agents who are just after making money and do not take time to see the performance of the player before being signed,” he said.
“Yanga is the team I played for and in that context, I have understanding of what kind of a player who can do a recommendable job there,” Ambani said.
Asked to comment on the progress of his former club, Ambani conceded that winning the title this season for Yanga will be very hard such that they need to fight hard to finish at least on second place.
“Looking at the Vodacom Premier League (VPL), table, Simba leads with 71 points while Azam are second with 54 points and Yanga are third with 51 points.
A 20-point gap with Simba is not that easy to beat hence the most important thing for them if to fight hard to battle for the second slot finish,” he said.
Furthermore, Ambani noted that Yanga should start immediate preparations to do well next season and not focusing much to lift the title this season insisting that a 20-point gap difference is hard to bridge.
“To dislodge Azam on second place is possible for Yanga, but the issue of winning the championship, I think Simba have a big advantage to claim it than any other team in the contest,” he said.
In 2006, Ambani emerged the top goal scorer for Kenya Premier League with 20 goals while serving for Tusker FC.
