Wazito coach Kimanzi calls for calm after Sharks mauling

A quite uninspiring result marked the first match for Wazito FC new coach Francis Kimanzi, as the immediate former Harambee Stars boss watched Kariobangi Sharks maul his  side 4-0 in the FKF-PL season opener on Sunday.

Kimanzi, arguably, could be the best option available locally for the big spending Wazito, to achieve the top status they have been unsuccessfully dreaming of in the last two seasons.

However,  his arrival has not presented the quick turnaround many would have expected, at least judging by day one of action, though Kimanzi is unperturbed.

“We cannot be disappointed; work has just started now. Even if we won, I would not have liked to take credit for something I have not worked for. We had a few days, like just three with the players and we were not able to watch them in a match situation until today (Sunday). What we have seen will help us in making decisions going forward,” a confident Kimanzi observed.

The 2008 Premier League winner with Mathare United suggested he is yet to learn much about the playing unit to get the best of them, having arrived at the club just a week to the season kickoff.

“We had to let them (players) show us what they have so that we also show them the way from a point of knowledge. There are those old habits we have to help them out to the next level. It was not going to be easy for them, with the excitement of a new coach within a very short time, that’s why some of them were really pushing hard to impress and sometimes that affects the collective result you get. I have seen a big potential in some of them that we will work with,” underscored the Dutch trained tactician.

Assisted by former Thika United, Posta Rangers and Kenya U-20’s Rising Stars coach John Kamau, the duo will have to work with players signed in their absence by Kimanzi’s predecessor Fred Ambani who also led the team in almost the entire preseason before he was dismissed.

Noteworthy, Wazito recruited 15 new players while releasing 14, leaving quite a new composition to select from, even for the new technical bench. Six of the new faces in the club were handed starting berths by Kimanzi; Fredick Odhiambo, Boniface Omondi, Fidel Origa, Maurice Ojwang, Ronald Okumu and Kevin Okumu.

And, just like Kimanzi, club owner Ricardo Badoer congratulated Sharks after the match, saying it “was a day to forget.”

Their quick chance to make amends lies in the newly promoted side Vihiga United at the Narok Stadium on Friday, in their second match of the season, which also opens the round two fixtures.

Vihiga also lost by a solitary goal to Kakamega Homeboyz in their opener,  and Kimanzi’s opponent on Friday, Sammy Okoth, has promised to sharpen his blunt striking force which he blamed for “several unutilized chances.”