Overview:
The only two wins in the time came against bottom placed Buhimba United Saints and Entebbe UPPC who were without head coach Abdallah Mubiru and had Ambrose Kigozi been lethal, that result would have turned out different.
A few months ago, it would have been unthinkable but Jacky Ivan Minnaert’s position as Vipers head coach is starting to come under question.
The ejection from the Stanbic Uganda Cup at the hands of Kitara following a 1-1 home draw was the Venoms’ 8th draw in the last 10 games in all competitions.
The only two wins in the time came against bottom placed Buhimba United Saints and Entebbe UPPC who were without head coach Abdallah Mubiru and had Ambrose Kigozi been lethal, that result would have turned out different.
The Belgian remains unbeaten domestically in all competitions and leads the table with 61 points, two ahead of second placed KCCA.
However, many fans believe the league would have been won already if Vipers turned some stalemates into victories.
Minnaert and team have had some unlucky refereeing decisions like the wrongly cancelled goal against KCCA and the one versus Police in which first, they were denied a penalty for a handball in the area and then from the given free kick, a legit goal disallowed for a non-existent offside.
But other teams have gone through same with SC Villa being the main culprits following their wrongly disallowed goals in the draw and defeat to Express and Police respectively and also conceded from wrong decisions against the table leaders in both draws.
Vipers have struggled for goals in recent matches and when they did score, they conceded.
In fact, they have had to come from behind in games against KCCA, URA and Kitara while they couldn’t break down NEC in the Uganda Cup, Kitara and Police at Kiira Road.
They remain firm favourites to retain the league title but at the moment, you can’t stake all your bet on them winning against Maroons and Express – their two remaining league opponents.
For people advocating for Minnaert’s sacking, they complain about the lack of entertaining football philosophy, failure to utilize the available quality and depth in squad well and failure to take the club to the CAF Champions League group stages.
However, those in favour of his stay cite his unbeaten run on the field of play as a key component.
All said, the way he set up the team against Kitara in the 1-1 draw at Kitende left a lot to be desired.
He went for a compact midfield with livewire Usama Arafat playing through the middle yet stretching the wide areas would have worked against Kitara’s low block through the centre.
Will he stay on as Vipers’ manager? The next game in the league is very important but as for now, pressure keeps mounting on him.
Vipers last 10 results
- Vipers 1-1 Kitara
- Police 0-0 Vipers
- Vipers 1-1 URA
- Vipers 3-0 Entebbe UPPC
- Buhimba United Saints 0-2 Vipers
- Villa 1-1 Vipers
- Vipers 0-0 Kitara
- NEC 0-0 Vipers [won on pens]
