Topflight clubs return to action on Friday as the new football season takes shape with the return of Rwanda Premier League.

A number of top clubs had a busy transfer window as they look to start the new season with new ambitions.

Rayon Sports’ recent signings in a major rebuild shows the club only means business ahead of the new season. APR FC and AS Kigali want to excel at CAF competitions and Kiyovu looks to learn from last season’s title slip-up while Mashami wants to turn Police into a trophy winning club.

Weekend Sport looks at fives coaches who must impress next season:

Vincent Mashami (Police)

The former Amavubi coach returns to the touchline with the law enforcers ahead of next season five months after the local football governing body decided against extending his contract that expired in February, putting an end to his four-year spell as the national team coach.

He joins a team that underperformed last season under Scottish Francis Nuttall Elliott who was sacked last season.

Mashami failed to prove why he was the right man for Amavubi given his unimpressive statistics in the national team.

As he returns to action, the 41-year-old joins a club with little pressure despite having a good squad that can fight for trophies at his disposal.

Football fans and the media on many occasions appeared to question his coaching standards at the national team and this might be the right time for him to prove doubters wrong.

Francis Haringingo (Rayon Sports)

The Burundian was so close to giving Kiyovu their first league title in 29 years but lost the battle to champions APR FC on the final match day.

The Green Baggies were in pole position to win the title until they were held to a goalless draw by Espoir FC with a few games to the end of the season.

APR at the time remained at the summit of the league table, despite losing to AS Kigali on the same match day, and beat Police in the final match day to win the league for the third time in a row.

Many football pundits believe Rayon Sports wouldn’t have lost the title to APR at the same stage. Maybe it’s what pushed Haringingo to sign for the Blues.

With the squad the team has at their disposal, winning the league is what the former Mukura coach was brought for.

Haringingo joined a club hungry for trophies and he knows helping Rayon play in Continental competitions next year is the only thing that can save his future at the club.

Adil Mohammed Erradi (APR FC)

The Moroccan has a big task to end APR FC’s failures in the CAF Champions League after establishing himself as an undisputed coach in Rwandan football as per the records he set when his team went 50 games unbeaten.

APR FC have a mountain to climb by eliminating Tunisian side US Monastir in the preliminary rounds and Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the second round if they reach the Group stages.

The group stages are what the club management tasked him this season. The tactician will rely on a team of only homegrown players to meet his employers’ wishes although local football pundits and football enthusiasts think it’s far from possible as long as they have only been adding little value to the national team’s performance during 2023 AFCON Qualifiers.

It’s now or never for Adil to cement his name as a great coach on continental scene as long as he can bring glory to the military side.

Casa Mbungo Andre (AS Kigali)

He is not a coach to reckon with on the continental scene but current statistics at AS Kigali show that he is a coach with a winning mentality.

He has won two majors titles just two months since he joined the Citizens.

The Rwandan gaffer said the league title is now on his radar while he also wants to translate the club’s domestic triumphs to the continental scene with the group stages of the CAF Confederation Cup his main priority ahead of next season.

The club has had a busy transfer window and Casa knows that only impressing at the continental scene is a responsibility he must achieve.

Alain-André Landeut (Kiyovu)

As has been the case for Haringingo, only the league title or the Peace Cup is what Kiyovu wants from the Belgian-Congolese tactician.

The club missed out on the league title at the last minute but they at least believed that it was possible to win it.

Landeut will need to build on the club’s current confidence to win the title after 30 years. That’s the only thing that can keep him at the club for long.

However, he has to be prepared to get the job done without Emmanuel Okwi who is yet to extend his stay while league player of the season Abedi Bigirimana is also said to be forcing a move out of the club.