Newly re-appointed Mathare United head coach Salim Ali is looking to restore the club’s trophy-winning instincts in the forthcoming Kenyan Premier League season.
Ali was elevated to the rank yesterday following the resignation of his boss Francis Kimanzi and in his immediate assignment, Ali has set his sights on breathing life to their trophy onslaught.
Ali, who served as Kimanzi’s assistant in the last four years, banks on team cohesion to end their 11-year trophy drought as the Slum Boys will have only the league matches to concentrate on. Mathare are part of the local teams which do not enrol in the Shield Cup tournament.
The former Ulinzi Stars coach, who served as the club’s head coach in 2009 following, rejoined the side in 2015 and now will be looked upon to lead the former football powerhouse in regaining their glory.
Having played alongside Kimanzi in the late ’90s at Mathare, where they won the Moi Golden Cup in 1998 and worked under him as an assistant, Ali has downplayed introducing a new philosophy to the playing unit as the club believes in modern-day football.
The soft-spoken coach reckons that he is equal to the task thanks to his vast experience both as a player and a coach and has predicted a glamorous future for the club.
“I believe I am equal to the task and I am hoping to enhance happiness within the team. If everybody in the team is happy, then we will achieve results and eventually win trophies. I will not be interfering with the philosophy of the club or bring something new to the boys,” said Ali. “As a club, we have our traditional way of playing football which entails playing fast-passes and I will be keen on ensuring the players execute it to the best of their capacities. We are still going on with our preseason preparations where I am shaping the players to be ready for the new season. It has been great working under Kimanzi and we wish him best of luck in his endeavours.”
Ali further hinted of scouting replacements to the duo of Cliff Nyakeya and Samuel Olwande, who left the club for greener pastures. Nyakeya, last season’s top scorer for the club signed for Egypt’s Al Masr while Olwande decamped to Kariobangi Sharks and Ali is keen to dive into the transfer market in search of replacements.
“We lost Nyakeya, who was reliable in front of goal and we have to groom his replacement before the new season. We also parted ways with Olwande, an experienced defender who can be deployed both as a left-back and a centre half and we have to fill in that void too. There are also other areas we want to strengthen before the new season.”
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