Ambani has revealed the one thing AFC Leopards have tended to get wrong about their transfer strategy which he believes has contributed to their 26-year FKFPL title drought.
Former Harambee Stars striker Boniface Ambani has revealed the reason he thinks AFC Leopards have been languishing in a 26-year premier league title drought.
Ambani, who is now the Technical Director of Mara Sugar and a former Leopards player and youth coach, has attributed the root cause of their drought to a failure to sign quality players available in the market.
Ambani contends that the Leopards' transfer strategy has been fundamentally flawed, resulting in a weakened squad incapable of mounting a serious title challenge.
“One of the problems that is eating up AFC Leopards is the signings,” Ambani explained to Citizen TV.
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“When you are signing you need the bench because a good team must have good players on the bench who are like the first eleven to have a healthy competition in the playing unit.”
Highlighting the necessity of strategic recruitment, Ambani urged the club to prioritize quality over quantity in their signings.
“Don’t compromise with the signings. We don’t just sign because it’s time to rush to the market and sign players. Consider first of all which kind of players you require,” he added. This sentiment reflects a broader issue in Kenyan football, where teams often prioritize immediate solutions over long-term planning.
Ambani’s disappointment extends beyond player signings to the coaching decisions made by the club. He firmly believes that his brother, Fred Ambani, who is now the assistant coach at AFC Leopards, could have made a significant impact if given the head coach position last season.
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“Fred is there now and it’s interesting that my brother is back as the assistant coach of AFC Leopards. But now he is not the head coach. I always wish that if he was the head coach of Ingwe then things might have been different as white and blue because we believe in merit,” Ambani underscored.
Fred Ambani is no stranger to success with the Leopards, having been the last player to finish top of the goal scorers’ chart and help the team lift their last league title in 1998.
His potential influence as head coach, according to Boniface, could have been a game-changer for the club. Currently, Fred serves under Czech head coach Tomas Trucha, who took over from Tom Juma in October last year.
The Leopards' recent performances reflect their ongoing struggles. The team finished fifth with 51 points, trailing champions Gor Mahia by 22 points. This gap highlights the urgent need for a new direction in both player recruitment and coaching strategy.
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