Mukura coach Kaze hints at resignation

After losing eight of their last 13 league matches, Mukura Victory Sports find themselves in the bottom half of the table, way below what head coach Cedric Kaze, management and fans had hoped for at the start of the campaign.

Friday, January 03, 2014
Mukura are struggling in the bottom half of the league log. Inset is Cedric Kaze, Mukurau2019s Coach. Times Sport / T. Kisambira.

After losing eight of their last 13 league matches, Mukura Victory Sports find themselves in the bottom half of the table, way below what head coach Cedric Kaze, management and fans had hoped for at the start of the campaign.The second round of the national football league gets underway next week, and Kaze says he will try and win more games so that his struggling side can climb up the table from their current ninth position in the 14-team topflight football league.The Huye-based side has 13 points, 15 points adrift of leaders and reigning champions Rayon Sports.Mukura lost to Marines (1-0), Etincelles (1-0), APR (1-0), Rayon (1-0), Police FC (2-0), Musanze (2-0), Kiyovu (1-0) and Espoir (1-0).Their only draw was a goalless stalemate against bottom side Amagaju, while their four wins (most of them against sides in the bottom half of the table) came against Muhanga, Gicumbi, Esperance and AS Kigali.This is Kaze’s first full season in charge, having joined Mukura in the middle of last season, but the Burundian is finding it rather tougher than he probably anticipated and, as a result, he has offered to throw in the towel should the team fail to improve.The season has already claimed one coaching casualty after Amagaju FC reacted to their early struggles by firing Abdul Mbarushimana and replaced him with Godfrey Okoko in early November. However, there seems to no change as the Nyamagabe-based outfit remains rooted at the foot of the table.And Kaze says he doesn’t want to be the next victim.He says he is determined to fight on for as a long as he possibly can; however, if he sees that the team is not turning a corner, then he will resign before he is shown the exit door.At the start of the 2013/14season, Mukura, who finished in fifth last season, were seen by some as one of the teams to watch this time round.But with the team now embarrassingly six points off the bottom side, Kaze has possibly realised the going is only getting tougher."I will resign if the team continues to struggle near or in the relegation zone.  We set ourselves higher targets at the start of the season; unfortunately, things are turning out to be the opposite of what we hoped for,” the under-fire youthful tactician admitted on Wednesday in an interview with Times Sport.He added: "We have won just four matches out of 13 played in the first round. You can’t win any trophy with that sort of form; our aim is to be closer to the top than the bottom.” "When this continues, I will not hesitate to step down for the good of the team and my career,” he said.The league resumes next weekend after the rescheduled clash between APR FC and Kiyovu SC on Saturday at Amahoro national stadium.