Football
Exclusive: Sofapaka boss Elly Kalekwa Reveals Reason to Re-Hire Veteran Robert Matano
Sofapaka President Elly Kalekwa has revealed the reason behind re-hiring veteran coach Robert Matano ahead of the 2024/25 FKF Premier League season.
Image Credit: People Daily
Sofapaka President Elly Kalekwa has revealed the reason the club re-hired the services of veteran tactician Robert Matano ahead of the new 2024/25 Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League season.
Batoto ba Mungu confirmed the acquisition of Matano, popularly referred to as 'the Lion' aka the ‘Special One’, on Monday, just three days after he had ended his six-year stay with Tusker FC. The 60-year-old Matano, who guided the Brewers to a second-place finish in the 2023/24 season, was replaced by his assistant Charles Okere.
Matano, who joined Tusker in 2018 and won two Kenyan league titles, left after his contract ended and the Brewers refused to renew. He was handed a one-year contract to return to the club he helped win the Premier League title during their debut season in 2009.
Matano Has Sofapaka DNA in His Blood
Speaking on the decision, Kalekwa said Matano was the right man to stabilise Sofapaka after a turbulent campaign in the previous season where they fought against relegation.
Sofapaka secured their status in the top-flight after beating National Super League (NSL) side Naivas FC 2-0 on aggregate in the FKF/NSL promotion playoff fixture. They won the first leg 1-0 before winning the return leg by a similar margin.
“We have given Matano a one-year contract just for a start, he is returning home, this is where Matano belongs and we are happy he did not hesitate to take up the new role when we approached him,” Kalekwa told SportsBoom.com.
We all know what Matano can bring into a team, we all know what he has achieved as a coach in the country, we all know how many titles he has bagged, we all know he gave Sofapaka their first league title, and hence his arrival is what we have been waiting for.
Elly Kalekwa
“Matano has Sofapaka's DNA in his blood, I know he has always wanted to come back, and now he has returned, we are happy he is here, and will train the boys in readiness for the new season.”
Kalekwa continued: “He is a coach with many skills, he will instill discipline within the playing unit, he is a coach, who loves to win and hates to lose, and with the struggles we underwent last season, he is the right coach to come in and bring the winning mentality back.”
Matano replaced Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno, who left the club despite having a running contract to join FKF Premier League champions Gor Mahia as one of the assistants to Brazilian tactician Leonardo Martins Neiva.
Image Credits: Mozzart Sport
Matano Arrival Does Not Make Sofapaka Title Challengers
Sofapaka Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ronald Okoth cooled down allegations that Matano's arrival will make the club title contenders in the new season set to begin in August.
“Matano has signed but it doesn't make Sofapaka title challengers, we want to take it a step at a time, we want Matano to build a strong team before we can start talking about the title,” said Okoth.
“We just want to be realistic everything takes time, we don’t want to be ambitious at the moment, we have our main objective to try and ensure we finish in a steady position and then from there on (I think with time), and we can now probably go back to challenging for the titles.”
At the moment, it will be a long shot, of course, it is not easy, we are focused on finishing the league in a far much better position (than last season), and then we see how we can build on from there. I think everything is just one step at a time, we know in the next few years we will ensure we take back the team to where it was in the previous years when we were challenging for titles and everything.
Ronald Okoth
However, Okoth remained optimistic about the team challenging for the title in the new future by saying: “I am sure once we have a good system in place, and the club is self-sustainable and we are not facing the same challenges that we came across last season, we are winning matches and everything is stable across all the departments, winning the title also needs a proper plan.
“It might take quite a while (for the entire department to click) but I am sure at the moment the plans we are putting in place will mature soon, we want to do everything we can, so we finish in a good position, we are focused on the new season.”
Batoto ba Mungu finished the season with 36 points, amassed from nine wins, nine draws, and 16 defeats.
Dennis is a seasoned journalist in Kenya with over 18 years of experience. Having started his career at Kenya Times Newspaper, Dennis worked for Standard Newspaper for nearly six years as a Sports Writer. At Standard, he was privileged to cover Kenya's national team Harambee Stars outside the country, the biggest of all being the Four Nations tournament in Cairo, Egypt. He also covered the U17 team in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.