When Bobby Williamson was relieved of his duties from Uganda Cranes four years ago, Mike Mutebi argued that local coaches weren’t ready for the job.
He advised the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) to go another foreigner in a coach and they obliged by recruiting Serbian, Mulitin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic.
Four years later, Micho leaves and Mutebi has change of mind. “Local coaches are now ready to handle the national team,” Mutebi told Kawowo Sports.
The KCCA manager however has reservations advising that a local coach assigned the job must be given as much support as the foreigner.
The only problem is that local coaches are despised in terms of remuneration and the like. For now, they should be offered contracts and not depend on allowances plus they should quit their club jobs. Micho didn’t succeed alone but as a team with Fred Kajoba and Moses Basena so they can do the job.
The former national team manager also thinks the mindset that deterred previous local tacticians from performing; the inclination to local clubs has much changed.
When I was in charge, people saw me as KCCA, same as Paul Hasule who was SC Villa in the minds of the population but the thinking seems to have changed.
Although the soft spoken coach didn’t register much success with the Cranes, he is proud of the trends he set.
I am proud of the job I did. For starters, I changed the image of the national team. Before me, the national team had no training kit and every one would come dressed in their club jerseys, expanded the technical staff to include a goalkeeper coach, kits man and modern training equipment.
Asked whether he can take over The Cranes if approached, Mutebi’s reply was negative.
“Not now,” he said. “I have a task at hand to lift the standards of club football. There is a big project at KCCA which I think is inspiring others which is good for our game,” he added.
But in the future, I can be available to coach the Cranes but for pride not money.
Mutebi is arguably one of the most experienced and respected tacticians in the country at the moment.
