Africa-Press – Uganda. Appointing Belgian Paul Put as the new Uganda Cranes coach was a huge bet for both Fufa and the 67-year-old gaffer.
Put’s rich resume and timely appointment should ostensibly be music to the ears of Ugandan football fanatics that had turned off their national team for lackluster displays and lack of ideal playing identity – but his checkered past somehow dimmed the occasion.
As he was chauffeured into the Fufa Complex in Mengo on Thursday in a convoy, the former Bukina Faso and Congo-Brazzaville experienced coach wore a determined poker face and was quick to point out Ugandan football flaws and possible remedies.
“I first of all want to thank Fufa for the trust and confidence in giving me this job. I believe my knowledge about African football will help me to do a good job with the Uganda Cranes,” he he told a packed press room.
Put added; “I have been following the Uganda Cranes especially the recent Afcon Qualifier match against Niger and the two friendly games against Mali and Zambia. Give me time, give me the confidence. You will see a different national team.”
Having helped the Burkinabes to the 2013 Afcon final and dragging them closer to a World Cup berth, Put can claim to know African football inside out but has also earned detrimental scars while at it.
Four years ago, he was banned for life by Guinea for breaching the code of ethics and discipline and had a year earlier resigned from his post as Kenya head coach citing personal problems after just three months.
To-date, the Belgian is yet to fully recover from the three-year ban he served up to 2011, after being found guilty of fixing two matches while managing Lierse at home.
The matches in question saw Lierse unexpectedly field reserve teams in Belgian top-flight league matches in 2005, seemingly as part of a match-fixing ring allegedly organized by Chinese businessman Ye Zheyun.
Regardless of that tainted past, Fufa president Moses Magogo emphasized that Put had beaten over 250 applicants world-over to earn the Cranes job vacated by Micho Sredojevic in September.
“Fufa rolled out an application process and we got over 250 coaches including two Ugandans who applied for the job. After thorough analysis, the Fufa Executive zeroed down on Mr. Put Paul Joseph who we believe he will do a good job,” he stressed.
New dawn
Alla said, Put is ultimately a tactical upgrade compared to his predecessor Micho who had not only run of progressive ideas but also failed miserably to take the team back to continental engagements on his return in July 2021.
“This time, we have allowed the coach to appoint his own backroom staff and he is already coming with five other people from Belgium. However, there will be Ugandans who will work as part of the backroom staff in the areas of medical, coaching and management,”Magogo revealed.
Put will work with compatriots – Sven De Wilde (performance manager), Mathieu Denis- Physical (fitness coach), Gery Osste (goalkeeping coach), Martin Michiel (physiotherapis), Jelle Sevenhant (video analyst) – another novelty at the national team.
Put’s first assignment arrives in 14 days with World Cup qualifying matches against Guinea and Somalia, both in Morocco on November 17 and November 21 respectively, and he has promised an instant reaction.
“I’m motivated and all I can say is that you will never regret this decision. Managing the Uganda Cranes will depend on my experience throughout Africa. I’m aware of the individual quality of this team and will try to win everything because is possible,” Put promised.
“I’m ready to write new page in Ugandan football, install a universal playing format, make sure Ugandan players to play in Europe, and above all, want the Ugandans to rediscover the joy of supporting their national team,” he told.
His two-year employment contract will rhyme with the ambitions of Fufa’s seven-year Technical Master Plan and the dire bid to co-hots the 2027 Afcon under the Pamoja arrangement.
Put is not one to be bogged by naysayers, and boldly stated that his video analysts had complied some of the Uganda Cranes last matches which will act as a launchpad to laying a tangible milestone during his stay.
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