It is now official that Ugandan Coach Micho Sredojevic has resigned after weeks of speculation. Many Ugandans especially former National team players blamed his resignation on the mismanagement at the Federation of Uganda Football Association Mujib Kasule a former Cranes player who now coaches the top fly team in the league said that Micho’s resignation was a big blow to the National team. “The sad thing is that we have lost him not because somebody else took him away from us. We have lost him because we couldn’t take care of him, we couldn’t pay his salary, we couldn’t pay his bonuses, he couldn’t feed his people; you see. He was doing so much for us on the pitch but in return, we couldn’t look after him, it is very unfortunate.” Said, Mujib Kasule – Former Uganda Cranes Player.
Last year, the Serbian tactician broke a 38-year jinx by leading Uganda to the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon. Mujib said the team qualified as a result of the culture Micho had instilled in his players. “It is going to be a struggle for whoever comes in because had built his own system within his players; he knew his players very well, the players knew him well, they understood each other, they listen to each other, the communication was good and that was the thing that gave them results. Remember when Micho first came in his first campaign he also struggled and he did not qualify because he was trying to build the synergies within the different departments and within the team.” He believes that the local coaches should be given a chance to take over the reign. “The coaches in Uganda, over the last four years they have been upgrading their levels and their experiences, the information, and their coaching abilities and right now we have coaches that can do the job locally. So we just have to believe in them, we just have to trust them.” However, he wanted the team to remain together. “They know that coaches come and coaches go. You know they will feel sorry for the first three or four hours, after that; business as usual.”
Other Ugandans also reacted to Micho’s move. “His salary should have been increased because it wasn’t easy for him to take Uganda to the Africa Cup of Nations.” “It is bad that we have to keep on changing coaches.” “We need a local coach to handle our National team.” Statistics about the salary of African Football Coaches showed that Micho was among the least paid coaches on the continent. Uganda is preparing for several matches in the Africa Nations Championship which it needs to win in order to participate in other top notch tournaments. There are fears amongst some fans that the team is faced with difficulties qualifying without a head coach.
