Leopards turn to psychology experts to end free fall

Uncertainty over the future of Stewart Hall as AFC Leopards Head Coach has slowly, yet steadily, eroded morale at the Den with speculations hinting at his exit escalating over the past few weeks.

On Tuesday, the club’s National Executive Committee (NEC) held a session with Hall where they assessed his transfer wish-list for the mid-season break before another crunch meeting where they intend to seek a quick fix to their poor run of form.

The Leopards enjoyed a promising start to their 2017 campaign, winning four and drawing once in the first six rounds before tumbling into a free fall that has left Ingwe faithfuls demanding for answers.

Club CEO Ronald Namai told Citizen Digital Wednesday they are contemplating finding sports-psychology experts to help the players cope with defeat and getting back up for the next assignment.

Among the conclusions reached during the Tuesday meeting was the addition of four players to the current squad.

“We are planning to bring in a defender,midfielder and two strikers to strengthen the squad for the second round,” Namai stated.

Englishman Hall has repeatedly said youthful players make up the bigger percentage of current crop and may not be able to challenge for the title this term. Instead, he has reiterated he intends to ‘build a team for the future.

Namai holds that same view.

He also refuted claims there is a band of ‘cartels’ that pull the strings on transfers in and out while assuring Hall has been granted such authority.

“We only sign whoever he tells us to.”

Following Leopards’ run of six matches without a win, fans have vowed to keep off stadiums during their KPL matches with assistant coach Nicholas Kitambi now urging his stars to win back their hearts.

“Nobody likes buying gloom and everybody wants to be associated with positive results. Anything to do with fans not coming to stadiums isn’t in our hands but what we need to do is to embark on posting good results and the rest shall fall in place,” Kitambi offered.

The Leopards sit 11th on the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) log, just two places higher than the position in which they ended last season.

It is positive yet an insignificant shift for a club that released 12 among those underachievers and signed over ten more when Haul took over the reins.

Following their latest defeat (1-0 to Kakamega Homeboyz), former player Boniface Ambani questioned the club’s recruitment criteria.

According to Ambani, Leopards should go back to the grassroots in the Western region where it enjoys the biggest support and tap into local talent.

“The problem that Ingwe has is just signing players without traditional considerations with the coach being dictated on which players to sign,” Ambani charged.

Ambani also rated the current squad as ‘average’ and opined they are unlikely to fulfill the demands of their fans.

“Kenya has got talent and there are quality players in the market that Leopards can bring on board and form a team that will be respected both locally and internationally. If I will be given the opportunity to coach any team, I will do that only if am given players I want and not what the office want,” he underscored.

Ambani led the junior AFC Leopards team to a second place finish in the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) Under 20 last year.

Tags:

AFC Leopards KPL Kenyan Premier League football Stewart Hall Rumours Ronald Namai

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