Newly appointed Harambee Stars head coach Turkish Engin Firat has thrown down the gauntlet to Football Kenya Federation to enhance infrastructure if they expect the national team to brush shoulders with the world's top cream.
Firat said all efforts aimed at refining the national team would merely go down the drain if proper structures are not established in the country.
"If you want to change the quality of football, then you have to start with the infrastructure. As long as you don't have very good fields and as long as coaches in the youth teams are not well educated and have three to four other jobs other than their coaching role, it will be difficult for them to help the youth players to come to the top," said Firat.
"If they can change these details, then I think Kenyan football has a bright future," he added.
Firat explained why he decided to take up the role of the national team coach despite being offered a shocking two-month contract.
"For me it is important that I feel good first before I can finally decide to settle on a permanent basis. I first want to have a look at the team and have a good feeling about them.
Firat said he can only make a firm decision about his future in the country after gauging the potential of the national team and the kind of environment he'll be working in.
"I will soon be having them in practice and if I see that they are capable of doing what I want then, of course, I can sit down with the federation and tell them I wish to continue with the job," he said.
"It's really important to have the same way of thinking with the people you work with.
"What happens if it turns out that I don't like working with the president or the staff assigned to me or even it turns out that I don't see a future in the team, it won't make any sense committing my future to the team," he noted.
He asked local football enthusiasts to exercise some patience as he embarks on the uphill task of moulding a winning squad.
"We shall field a team that will try their best, don't worry about that. I hope to build a team that will not give up and I want to assure the fans that they will be satisfied with the results of the national team in the future," he said.
"For me it is important that they don't criticise the boys. If the match is not going a hundred percent like they want, they should still be there for the team to protect them. If they do this then I'm sure we can eventually do something where all will be happy," he said.
"I don't believe in luck, I push for it. My philosophy is always to control the game even if we are playing against better rivals. The quality of the rivals doesn't matter, it all depends on what we do as a team. In short term, of course you can win or draw a game but the desired results are always achieved in the long term.
