Uganda Premier League Champions Vipers SC yet again failed to attain their target of reaching the group stages of the CAF Champions League after falling to FC Noaudhibou on away goals rule. The first leg in Kitende a week ago ended 1-1, and the goalless draw in the return leg on Sunday meant elimination for the Venoms.
Given the massive investment by the club over the years that has helped them dominate the local scene, winning four of the last five League titles, Vipers’ next target has always been to try and navigate the continental murky waters. For an ambitious person like Dr Lawrence Mulindwa, success is not the limit but the basic foundation. When the club reached the group stages in the 2022/23 season, eliminating giants TP Mazembe, that was perceived as just a beginning, not a monumental achievement.
After lifting the 2025/26 League title, Vipers immediately embarked on preparations for the CAF Champions League with the ultimate target of reaching the group stages. Coach Ivan Minnaert, who had won the League, was let go, meaning they needed an upgrade ahead of the continental expedition. In enters Frenchman Denis Lavagne, who has a better profile and perhaps cost them an arm and leg to hire.
The recruitment did not end at just the coach but also several players, including Joel Sserunjogi, Nicholas Mwere, the return of Farouk Miya and Cesar Manzoki and a legion of foreigners including Loyce Mbaba, Jacques Mangoba and Princewill Biweribo Tarabina.
With all that investment, Vipers had a disappointing run in the CECAFA Kagame Cup, a sloppy start to the League, losing to Entebbe UPPC and now getting ejected from the CAF Champions League at the first hurdle. The culture at St. Mary’s Stadium over the years is that for any coach who doesn’t deliver, the exit door is always wide open, and if that is anything to go by, David Lavagne could be staring at that revolving door.
Vipers’ revolving door policy
You cannot entirely criticise Vipers’ approach to hiring coaches, when in the end whoever they appoint usually delivers. In Kitende, it is about success and glory; anything short of that is regarded as failure. In the last ten years, Vipers has had about 15 coaches, with not so many going beyond one season.
Vipers coaches in the last ten years
- Abdallah Mubiru – July 2016 – December 20216
- Miguel Da Costa – March 2017 – July 2018
- Javier Martinez Espinoza – August 2018 – December 2018
- Michael Nam Ouma – December 2018 – July 2029
- Edward Golola – Several stints between 2010 and 2020)
- Fred Kajoba (RIP) – January 2020 – May 2021
- Roberto Oliviera – August 2021 – December 2022
- Beto Bianchi – January 2023 – March 2023
- Alex Isabirye – March 2023 – June 2023
- Leonard Neiva – July 2023 – December 2023
- Livingstone Mbabazi – January 2024 – April 2024
- Nikola Kavazovic – June 2024 – October 2024
- Fred Muhumuza and John Luyinda – Co-coaches (October 2024 – May 2025)
- Ivan Minnaert – July 2025 – June 2026
- David Lavagne – June 2026 – To date
Has Lavagne done himself any favour?
It is easy to say the coach is new in the job, needs time to learn his squad and also implement his style, but failing to improve players in almost four months, playing them out of position, leaves so many questions unanswered.
For instance, Abdu Karim Watambala, who was Vipers’ best player last season playing as a number ten, has at times been pushed to the wing in order to accommodate Farouk Miya in the team. From the CECAFA Kagame Cup, the midfield duo of Marvin Youngman and Joel Sserunjogi look like a shadow of what the Venoms had last season.
As the team now shifts focus to League action, we wait to see whether the club administration will accord him more time or he will take the same route as his predecessors.
