Tusker to unveil Matano as Timbe replacement

What you need to know:

  • Matano, famously knows as “The Lion” has two league titles to his name with Sofapaka and Tusker in 2009 and 2012 seasons respectively.
  • He also led Leopards to the GOtv Shield last year among many of his accolades.

Eleven-time Kenyan Premier League (KPL) champions Tusker are set to unveil Robert Matano as the new coach replacing the fired Sam Timbe on Tuesday.

Timbe, alongside his assistant Francis Baraza, were shown the door on Sunday, a day after the team lost 3-1 to Zoo Kericho.

Matano will be assisted by youthful Charles Okere, who has formerly coached former national secondary school football champions Ofafa Jericho High School and National Super League (NSL) side Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), the latter as a trainer.

“The unveiling is tomorrow (Tuesday) but they already started working today (Monday),” a senior source, who sought anonymity told Nation Sport on Monday ahead of Tuesday's unveiling at Ruaraka grounds.

Matano, famously knows as “The Lion” has two league titles to his name with Sofapaka and Tusker in 2009 and 2012 seasons respectively.

He also led Leopards to the GOtv Shield last year among many of his accolades.

The rest of the technical bench has been retained with Haggai Azande serving as goalkeeping coach, while Wycliffe Makanga remains the team doctor and Enos Karani the physio.

Timbe meanwhile, became the third Ugandan coach to serve the club in a span of two years after compatriots Paul Nkata (2016) and George “Best” Nsimbe (2017).

Nkata guided the brewers to win the double in 2016 but in the hands of Nsimbe, Tusker struggled in the 2017 season, finishing a distant sixth with 50 points, 24 adrift of champions Gor Mahia.

As a consequence, Nsimbe was shown the door at the closure of 2017 campaign paving way for Timbe, who in his last assignment in the country, had led Sofapaka to clinch the 2014 GOtv Shield before quitting after expiry of his contract in August 2015.

The former Yanga and Uganda Police coach was tasked to build a formidable side following the release of about 14 first-team players at the end of the 2017 season.

Tusker has managed just 10 points in 11 outings sitting 15th on the 18-team table.

Over the weekend, Gor Mahia showed their class in the local league by coming from a goal down to whip Thika United 5-2 at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos and leapfrog Mathare United at the top of the table standings on 25 points albeit with three games in hand.

“We are just two points ahead never mind the games we’ve played. We’ve to keep the focus and our feet on the ground because we’ve got so many competitions to play this year,” Gor coach Dylan Kerr said.

Four-time champions Ulinzi Stars moved to third spot on 19 points, four adrift of second placed Mathare.

“Our winning streak has just began. We’ve five matches to the end of the first leg, we’ve to ensure we bag maximum points,” said Ulinzi coach Danstun Nyaudo after ending a three-match winless run with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Nakumatt in the first match played in Machakos.

Thirteen-time champions AFC Leopards dropped to sixth position after a 1-0 loss away to Bandari on Saturday.

Ingwe’s incoming coach Argentine Rodolfo Zapata jetted in on Friday night and watched KPL double headers at Camp Toyoyo and Machakos over the weekend.

Nakumatt and Thika remain bottom of the table.