Title winning Ugandan tactician Paul Nkata has been handed a two-year contract to bring his midas touch to struggling but ambitious Bandari just a month after he led Tusker to the Sportpesa Premier League and GOtv Shield tittles shifted base.
The switch of allegiance from Ruaraka to Mbaraki will not come as a surprise to many who followed Nkata’s comments in the aftermath of leading Tusker to their 11th national crown with the Ugandan non-committal on whether he would honour his two-year contract when he was named the SJAK/Fidelity Insurance coach of the month of November.
The coach then did not seem overly excited about playing in Africa with Tusker. “That one only God knows. I have done my job here and I am grateful and I can’t predict the future. It is too early. I have coached big clubs in Uganda perhaps it is time to go back and see what else I can do there,” he said.
The decorated Nkata, who led Tusker to their Premier League triumph after a four-year dry spell, has signed a one-year contract with the dockers which begin in January and is subject to renewal.
Under the agreement according to Oduor, Nkata has been given a free hand to recruit and drop players for the next season. “We wanted a long term deal with Nkata but he prefers a one-year deal to prove his worth before we can deliberate further,” Oduor said.
Bandari after also winning the GOtv Shield last year came into the 2016 season high on hopes of ending the long wait to win a maiden league title. They, however, fell short and were desperately playing to avoid being dragged into the relegation dogfightand eventually finished 11th with as many points above the drop zone and they will now be hoping Nkata’s success rubs off on them.
At the same time, Bandari who became only the second Premier League side after Tusker to get full licensing after becoming fully compliant with the new KPL regulations have also appointed former head coach Twahir Muhidin as the team’s technical director.
According to Bandari secretary, Edward Oduor, Muhidin, a Caf football instructor, has signed a two-year contract beginning January. “We want to have a very strong technical bench thus the reason we have appointed Nkata and Twahir to the technical bench which will also have
Ken Odhiambo as the team assistant coach,” Oduor said.