KCCA triumph amidst mediocrity

L-R: Emmanuel Magembe, Lawrence Kasadha, Joseph Ochaya, Ronald Kikonyongo, Emmanuel Opio celebrate KCCA’s title triumph. Below is Express coach Alex Gitta (L) congratulating Mutebi on his first trophy as a manager. PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA 

In Summary

SOCCER. To win the league, the best team must be able to pick points off their main rivals. Express were anything but a title challenger. Vipers, too, were not up to the task whereas Express were equally blunt.

KAMPALA. KCCA coach Mike Mutebi’s admission that his team were not outstanding despite clinching the Azam Uganda Premier League (UPL) title with a game to spare this week says much about the state of the league. Nevertheless, there are some key factors in the 2015/16 season that helped KCCA secure an 11th league title; a first for coach Mutebi and many of the club’s younger players.

Superb organisation
If KCCA failed to set the league alight with breathtaking football, they clearly set the standards off it. Bankrolled by the Jennifer Musisi-led Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), the club is the closest thing to professionalism you will find on the domestic scene.
From the chairman Julius Kabugo to CEO David Tamale, the management structure was well outlined. The Mutebi-led coaching structure also includes Badru Kaddu, who was promoted from first-team coach to assistant manager after the sackings of Sam Ssimbwa and goal-keeping coach Dan Kiwanuka. Others are John Luyinda and Jackson Madera, as well as a statistician employed on match-days.
The same cannot be said of their rivals, who were plagued with friction among coaching staff reported at SC Villa and Vipers while the lack of proper administration at Express has become a terminal illness.

Calm after storm
After Ssimbwa got embroiled in match-fixing allegations shortly before the end of the first round, KCCA dealt with the matter decisively by suspending the well-travelled gaffer to maintain a serene environment and keep focus on the big prize. It is unthinkable the same would have happened at many other clubs.
Squad depth
The turnover of players at KCCA was huge with 10 joining at the start of the season while 11 departed. This was followed by a mid-season clear-out, which saw another five players leave while Caesar Okhuti and Herman Wasswa headlined the recruits.
Despite many of them not making the desired impact, the squad helped them past the finishing line. Okhuti, after eight goals in the first round for Express, added only three after switching sides. Muzamir Mutyaba’s seven goals represented the highest tally for any KCCA player while Joseph Ochaya had six and Nelson Senkatuka notched four.

Toothless opposition
Patchy end to the season form saw KCCA win only twice in seven games. Their rivals, however, did not fare any better with Vipers winning once in five games (before yesterday’s final round).
Express, meanwhile, only lost once in seven games before yesterday but ultimately failed to win the ‘big games’ losing to Vipers and then drawing with Villa and KCCA in that sequence. To win the league, the best team must be able to pick points off their main rivals. Express were anything but a title challenger. Vipers will probably look back at that point in the final minute of added time of their second round meeting with KCCA when William Wadri shot terribly wide when one-on-one with goalkeeper Benjamin Ochan.
That game ended goalless with Vipers picking nine points out of a possible 18 off the other top four teams with Express collecting six and Villa five. KCCA on the other hand collected eight points in that mini-league.

Miya factor
Last season Farouk Miya was many people’s overwhelming choice for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award as the attacker led Vipers to the title.
One of his stand-out attributes as evidenced in the a 2-0 victory over SC Villa in the penultimate game that clinched last season’s title was the ability not only to score goals but also motivate those around him.
Unfortunately for Vipers they lacked such a player after Miya moved to Europe after the first round.
By the time of his departure he was the club’s second leading scorer with five goals behind lanky Erisa Ssekisambu, who by Thursday had amassed 15 goals. This seemed to cripple the team offensively with none of the supporting cast managing to score more than six goals.

P W D L F A Ps
KCCA 29 16 8 5 38 20 56
Vipers 29 14 10 5 36 21 52
Express 29 14 8 7 36 26 50
SC Villa 29 12 11 6 32 22 47
Soana 29 12 9 8 43 39 45
URA 29 11 11 7 41 30 44
Police 29 11 11 7 29 25 44
Bul 29 13 5 11 30 27 44
Sadolin Paints 29 12 6 11 21 24 42
JMC Hippos 29 10 8 11 25 21 38
The Saints 29 10 6 13 29 27 36
Bright Stars 29 8 10 11 18 22 34
Lweza 29 9 7 13 25 38 34
Simba 29 6 11 12 25 26 29
SCVU 29 5 4 20 16 54 19
Maroons 29 3 7 19 14 36 16

Top scorers
Robert Ssentongo 16 (URA)
Erisa Ssekisambu 15 (Vipers SC)
Caesar Okhuti 11 (KCCA)
Tony Odur 9 (Express)
Musa Esenu 8 (Soana)
Geoffrey Sserunkuma 7 (Lweza)
Patrick Kaddu 7 (Maroons)

1969: Prisons
1969: Prisons
1970: Coffee
1971: Simba
1974: Express
1975: Express
1976: KCC
1977: KCC
1978: Simba
1979: UCB
1980: Nile
1981: KCC
1982: SC Villa
1983: KCC
1984: SC Villa
1985: KCC
1986: SC Villa
1987: SC Villa
1988: SC Villa
1989: SC Villa
1990: SC Villa
1991: KCC
1992: SC Villa
1993: Express
1994: SC Villa
1995: Express
1996: Express
1997: KCC
1998: SC Villa
1999: SC Villa
2000: SC Villa
2001: SC Villa
2002: SC Villa
2003: SC Villa
2004: SC Villa
2005: Police
2006: URA
2007: URA
2008: KCC
2009: URA
2010: Bunnamwaya
(Now Vipers)
2011: URA
2012: Express
2013: KCC
2014: KCC
2015: Vipers
2016: KCCA.

essenono@ug.nationmedia.com