We must wake up now and climb the ladder of football

What you need to know:

  • Kenyan football is beneath the levels of football history.
  • We shall not rest until it acquires that status.

The year is ending and we of this column do not care about the calendar year. Life has to go on and football shall go on too. We speak of the Kenyan football that we have barked and snarled about since the beginning of the season till now. It may bore readers but we must do our duty.

We have woofed about the management and direction of our sad country’s football for so long until people call to say it’s enough. We are bulldogs and when we bite we never leave a subject.

Kenyan football is beneath the levels of football history. We shall not rest until it acquires that status. There is a breed of older citizens who somehow speak of a time when Kenyan football was vibrant and enjoyable.

They shall acclaim for you Marshall Mulwa’s heroics at Cecafa Cup until you get rather annoyed. When you ask them how far did that vibrant team ascend, they start stammering and get back to Cecafa Cup and tell you of Bernard Zgoll and his Olympic Youth Camps; they will extol the Matiba football dynasty he created and rush back to football development among the youth. They seem to know all that ails Kenyan football and their logic cannot fathom the present but only goes back to the past and dwells there! It is very frustrating.

CECAFA DEBACLE

The last two weeks, Harambee Stars were in Uganda for the same Cecafa Cup. The local league was still going on, a testimony to the fact that nobody seems to see the importance of the Cup. In the olden days of black and white TV and only one station, our older generation got all their football news from football commentary on radio. There was only one station and it was called Voice Of Kenya.

The commentators of the matches were stars of the nation ranking much higher than the players. They have even got Head of State Commendation many times over and since the heads of state see no better people worthy of their awards, they shall award them even more.

That was then. We are in now. The players of that time were fully employed by parastatals which have since been sold to God-knows-who! The player of today is in another predicament. He is a professional who has no sure pay. We seek to make him a beggar. His talent is almost a curse to himself and family. It annoys any humane Kenyan!

Last week, we were sailing to Cecafa Cup final in Uganda. It was smooth up to the semi-finals even with our coach suspended. The moment of reality downed on us when we met the tiny Eritrea!

They really slammed us in the saddest manner possible. There are Kenyans out there who are still miffed with that result of 4-0. I have had the misfortune of listening to some who are of the firm opinion that we ‘sold’ or fixed the match. Ironically, it is the same people who have been thinking this column is negative about Kenyan football!

Our game is down due to suspicious management. Please understand why we quarrel here day in day out. We must wake up and climb the ladder of football.