Police FC were in a difficult situation right from the start of the season. If the first ten games had told us that things could be very negative, the final bend of the Premier League campaign has proved that right.
The Cops won none of their opening ten matches, lost six on the bounce before they drew their next four and only got off the mark on match day eleven.
Abdallah Mubiru in one of his press conferences then admitted the players lacked motivation due to defiance in payment and the time that was reportedly improved is when club chairman Asan Kasingye swung in, they won four games on the spin.
But then things turned upside down when the second round started with the Cops struggling to win games again and have managed to win just once in 10 games and also got eliminated from the Stanbic Uganda Cup by regional side Mbale Heroes.
Three defeats on the bounce at Express (2-1), at home to Onduparaka (4-1) and 3-0 at Mbarara City left the club 13th on the table – same points 24 as Soltilo Bright Stars who occupy the last slot of relegation.
That resulted in Mubiru leaving the club, a position he has considered to take long ago but somehow kept on at the club.
“The working conditions have failed to improve and it’s sad that we have to build a new team every season since we can’t keep our best players,” he said.
“I feel for these players that I convinced to stay, sign extensions or even join the club and for that matter, I would have betrayed them if I quit because most are here because of my endless promises.”
In fact, no team has lost more star players in the past 4-5 seasons than Police.
In the 2017/18 season when they put up a stiff challenge and topped the table for most of the first round, they couldn’t keep midfielder Gift Ali, then league top scorer Hood Kaweesa and defender Steven Mugisha who quit before the second round and their title aspirations collapsed.
Others like Rahmat Ssenfuka, Norman Ojik, Yasin Mugabi, Hassan Kalega, Ashraf Mugume, Paul Willa, Albert Mugisa, Aggrey Madoi, Ben Ocen, Juma Balinya, Martin Mpuuga, Douglas Kisembo, Hakim Ssenkumba, Samson Kigozi, Brian Mayanja Muruli, Davis Mutebi and Denis Rukundo among others also quit freely because the club couldn’t afford keeping them.
Mubiru had to rely on his scouting network to sign players mainly from regional sides simply because the Police administration couldn’t provide any transfer kitty and that’s how players like Johnson Odong, Kigozi, Emmanuel Mugume and the like joined.
In seasons where the club has appeared to be supportive, they have been competitive and just last season, they finished in top half and reached the semis of Uganda Cup.
During Mubiru’s time at the Kibuli based side, Police has been arguably the team with the most attractive brand of football and no team fancied facing them even at their lowest.
The thing is quite simple. Police have plenty of problems right now – on the pitch, off the pitch –administratively and financially and Mubiru is far from their biggest problem right now.
The situation between Mubiru and his players and the current club CEO PK Arinaitwe is what is more poisonous for a ‘big’ club like Police and the way Arinaitwe is leading the club does not see right either. There is no real structure to the way Police behave in all aspects with the chairman Asan Kasingye appearing to have gone silent about the club since his demonstration at Kitende.
It would be the easiest thing to sack Mubiru. However, just because that is not the hardest thing to do, it does not mean it had to be done in the manner it happened for someone that has sacrificed all his energy to see the club stays afloat with no motivation to the players during his five years at the club.
There could be mistakes the coach did, but seems even more that the club hierarchy created just like the many errors in the press statement they released without a date. So, Police FC have bigger fish to fry right now and the sacking Mubiru does not seem like a move that would stabilize the club and bring an opportunity to go forward straight away and survive relegation this season.
In their last five games, they face relegation rivals SC Villa, URA, BUL, Wakiso Giants and Vipers and in comparison to their counterparts, they have the toughest schedule and on current form, it’s safe to say they will be playing in the second tier next season.