Atraco will never be the same again

IT may sound a bit strange [to some] and quite obvious [to others] for someone like me to come to a conclusion as the headline above reads. Yes, the one-time Rwandan league champions and former Cecafa/Kagame Cup Championships’ winners will never be able to challenge APR for the league dominance. With current head coach Sam Timbe expected to leave the post at the end of the season next month [June], Atraco may never be able to attract another coach of a profile of the Ugandan seasoned tactician, or any just as close to him. In the club’s five-year Atraco existence, its managers have shown a lack of understanding of how to deal their coaches professionally. They don’t seem to respect the men they employ to coach the team! Maybe they were overwhelmed by the team’s quick rise to the top, maybe not, maybe they think they have achieved their goal and what comes after that is just bonus. Maybe the team’s achievements are like a dream for the men in charge of this club, again maybe not, who knows? Nonetheless, regardless of all the theories critics and analysts will come up with, for a five-year-old club to employ three high profile coaches in Sam Ssimbwa, Jean Marie Ntagwabira and now Timbe is a sign of ambition but they don’t support this purpose when it comes to working in harmony with the coaches. Both Ssimbwa and Ntagwabira left under a dark cloud….and like they say, ‘old habits die hard’, Timbe is looking to the follow the same route. It’s just a matter when and not if, Timbe will leave Atraco after two years in charge. In this period, the former SC Villa coach won the Cecafa/Kagame Club Championships and the MTN Peace Cup and he was just a goal a way from winning league title in his first season. But after that, the team and the club as whole have been on the decline and signs are that things may never be the same again. Ssimbwa was sacked after he had just led the team to the final of the MTN Peace Cup as well as the second round of the Caf Confederations Cup. He also finished second to APR in the league. And Ntagwabira’s story wasn’t very different from Ssimbwa but only that he had won the league and also reached the MTN Peace Cup final. He resigned because his bosses weren’t allowing him to exercise full control over the team. As for Timbe, like his two predecessors, he won’t fall short of suitors. Rumor has it that he could take up the vacant post at Uganda Revenue Authority, others are talking of him crossing over to Rayon Sport. His body language and the way manner in which he waved good bye to fans after his team had just been beaten by Ssimbwa’s Sofapaka in the Cecafa/Kagame Cup third place playoff last evening, you could sense, it must have been his last game in charge. Atraco manager sold off a couple of key senior players including ‘keeper Jean Luc Ndayishimiye, Johnson Bagoole, Charles Kawuma, Peter Kagabo and Aloua Gaseruka and never made any decent replacements for them. If it wasn’t for Timbe, I bet Atraco would be struggling even more than they’ve done this season, and as the Ugandan coach packs his bags to look for another job, he may be taking with him the team’s hopes of ever challenging APR, who added a third Kagame Cup to their trophy cabinet for titles again. nku78@yahoo.com