Overview:
The 2-0 defeat to Vipers at Kadiba on Saturday capped another poor season and extended the club's trophy drought to six seasons with the last piece of silverware coming in 2019.
After another incredibly poor season in the Premier League, the Uganda Cup was seen as a chance to salvage a season for KCCA in a ray of light in a dark campaign.
For the second successive season, the 13-league champions finished in 5th position on the Premier League log.
The 2-0 defeat to Vipers at Kadiba on Saturday capped another poor season and extended the club’s trophy drought to six seasons with the last piece of silverware coming in 2019.
But after the loss, what does the future hold for the club, and in particular for the coach Jackson Magera?
Magera was named in the interim position in April after the firing of his boss, Abdallah Mubiru.
During his tenure, he led the team to the final, starting with the quarterfinal clash away to Karoo Karungi and then past Kataka in the semis.
To many, winning the Uganda Cup was seen as an opportunity for Magera to show his bosses time is now to upgrade from being interim to head coach, a chance he missed.
There were question marks over his starting XI on Saturday, leaving out the club’s best midfielder Joel Sserujongi for makeshift Peter Magambo and also trading the style of play for a more physical approach that saw KCCA earn two yellow cards inside 25 minutes to Emmanuel Anyama & James Mubezi – it could have been more if Shamira Nabadda wasn’t lenient to Gavin Kizito, Magambo and Brian Ijara for consistently hacking Yunus Sentamu, Allan Okello and Karim Watambala unnecessarily.
Whereas Magera’s future remains uncertain, he has support from a section of board members who would rather retain him as part of the coaching staff even if a new manager is hired.
However, other reports show that the incoming manager, especially if Ugandan, will ask for the entire staff at the moment to leave and he hires his own.
What next after another season to forget?
The mood was understandably sombre among KCCA players, coaches and the members of management in the stands after the Saturday defeat as their last chance to salvage any positivity from the campaign slipped away.
One thing that will likely to change over the pre-season besides the coaching staff is the squad.
There are several players whose contracts are expiring – Mustafa Mujjuzi, Usama Arafat, Gabriel Joao, Ettiene Katenga, Filbert Obenchan, Umar Lutalo and Sadat Anaku.
The two wingers, Usama and Katenga, have been linked with moves away from Lugogo as well as the Brazilian, Gabi who reportedly is on high wages and the club is reluctant to agree a new deal on the same terms.
It is literally the same for Usama and Katenga – both targeted by Vipers among other suitors with reports that the club isn’t willing to match their demands for new contracts.
In case both are to leave, the club would have repeated the same mistakes they did when they let Muhammad Shaban, their best player in the 2023/24 season, go.
Joel Sserunjogi, despite still having a year left on his contract, also wants away according to sources from his camp.
For now, it is evident KCCA must spend on quality players like it happened in the past, especially under Mike Mutebi or risk being in the shadows of a more ambitious Vipers SC which has won seven trophies since the last title for the Kasasiro.
First, they must keep their best players in Usama, Sserunjogi and Katenga among others and also be brave enough to let some players go, including some of the favourites that have spent several years at the club.
Who are the coaching options in case Magera isn’t given the head coach role?
Mike Mutebi has distanced himself from the role he held between 2015 & 2021, saying he is not returning to management.
Former player and coach Sam Ssimbwa, now assistant coach to Paul Put on the Uganda Cranes team has also been mentioned amongst circles at Lugogo but it remains to be seen if he can dump the national coaching role to return to the club that let him go on moral grounds when he worked with Mutebi in 2016.
Another name mentioned is SC Villa title-winning manager Dusan Stojanovic.
What happens next?
What is more likely is a new coach and, of course, players leaving and others coming in but there have been questions asked of the management and the secretariat.
Don’t be surprised if even some members at the secretariat leave as well as some members on the board for fresh faces and some old one, including Aggrey Ashaba returning.
